Kurdish rebels to retreat from Turkey to Iraq

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) ? Kurdish rebels will start withdrawing thousands of guerrilla fighters from Turkey on May 8 and retreat across the border to northern Iraq, a rebel commander said Thursday, in an important milestone toward ending the nearly three-decade old insurgency that has cost tens of thousands of lives.

In a news conference held in northern Iraq's Qandil mountains, rebel commander Murat Karayilan said the extraction would be gradual, but warned it would come to an immediate stop should the rebels be attacked as they leave Turkey.

He also outlined for the first time "obligations" the Turkish government needs to fulfill for peace, including enacting a new constitution, the dismantling of special security units established to fight the rebels and an amnesty for all imprisoned guerrillas. A video of the news conference was aired by Turkey's private Dogan news agency.

The decision to leave Turkey and retreat to bases in northern Iraq comes a month after the rebels declared a cease-fire, heeding a call by jailed rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan, who is engaged in talks with Turkish officials to end the fighting. Ocalan had also asked his group, the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, to leave Turkey as part of the peace efforts.

"The withdrawal will be gradual, in groups," Karayilan, who took over the PKK's leadership after Ocalan's capture and imprisonment in 1999, said. "It will be completed in the shortest time possible."

"Withdrawal will stop immediately if there is any attack, operation or bombing of our guerrilla forces and our forces will use their right to reciprocate," Karayilan warned.

There was no immediate statement from Turkish officials on the announcement. Turkey's government and military leaders were holding a regular two-monthly national security meeting.

The rebels' retreat is seen as a major step toward a political settlement of the conflict whose roots go back to the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the redrawing of boundaries in the Middle East, which left Kurds scattered between Turkey, Iraq, Syria and Iran.

Kurds in Turkey were long denied a separate identity and basic cultural and linguistic rights. In 1984, Ocalan's PKK launched a campaign, first for independence, and then for autonomy and greater rights for Kurds ? who make up around 20 percent of Turkey's 75 million population.

The group, which frequently launched attacks on Turkey from bases in northern Iraq, is designated a terrorist organization by Turkey and its Western allies. The Turkish government estimates that between 1,500 and 2,000 of the rebels operate from inside Turkey, mostly from caves and other hideouts in the country's rugged southeast region.

Speaking in front of a flag emblazoned with Ocalan's portrait, Karayilan made clear his fighters wouldn't withdraw unarmed despite a Turkish government demand that the rebels lay down their weapons before retreating. The PKK commander said the group would only disarm once Ocalan and other Kurdish militants are released from prison.

The rebels were hesitant about an unarmed withdrawal without legal assurances from Turkey that the guerrillas wouldn't be attacked as they leave. Turkish forces reportedly attacked PKK guerrillas as they retreated in 1999 while obeying orders from Ocalan, who had appealed for peace soon after his capture.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government has said that the ultimate goal of the talks between Ocalan and Turkey's intelligence agency, launched late last year, is the PKK's disarmament. Government officials, however, have not given details of the talks and insist Turkey is not engaged in any horse-trading with the PKK.

Karayilan said it would be Turkey's turn to take steps expected by Kurds once the rebels leave the Turkish territory.

Kurds are demanding that a new constitution currently being drafted by parties represented in Turkey's parliament safeguards the rights of the minority group and increases the powers of local authorities, giving them more leverage in governing Turkey's mostly Kurdish southeast regions. Kurds are also seeking the release of hundreds of Kurdish activists jailed for alleged links to the PKK as well as improved jail conditions for Ocalan, who is serving a life term on a prison island near Istanbul.

Karayilan, however, went a step further saying Ocalan ? once Turkey's most wanted man ? should also be freed as part of the peace deal. Despite his 14-year incarceration, Ocalan still wields great power over his rebel group and is worshipped by Kurds.

"The total dismantling of weapons and the disarmament of the guerrillas will come to the agenda when everyone, including our leader Apo, reaches their freedom," Karayilan said. Apo, short for Abdullah, is Ocalan's nickname.

"Apo has fulfilled all of his responsibilities," Karayilan said. "Now it is the Turkish government and our turn."

While a majority of Turks support the end of hostilities, the peace efforts remain a highly emotional issue and some are concerned about too many concessions for the PKK, which is blamed for thousands of deaths, including civilians. A nationalist party is strongly opposed to freedom for Ocalan whom it calls the "monster of Imrali," in reference to the prison island where he is held.

Turkey's peace efforts with Ocalan follow a surge in violence last summer that killed hundreds of people. It also comes as a Syrian Kurdish group linked to the PKK has gained control in several areas of northern Syria amid the civil war in the country, adding to Turkey's worries. Many believe Turkey's conflict with the PKK is hampering its ambitions to become even more of a regional leader.

The PKK has declared cease-fires before and the government has admitted holding failed secret peace talks with the rebels in 2011. But many believe that the latest effort has chance of success because of Ocalan's direct involvement.

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Ezgi Akin contributed to the report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/kurdish-rebels-retreat-turkey-iraq-140004148.html

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