⭕ Kurdish PKK says fighters have withdrawn from key north Iraq region

 ⭕ Kurdish PKK says fighters have withdrawn from key north Iraq region

The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) said on 17 November that its forces have withdrawn from the Zap region in northern Iraq, calling the move a “significant practical contribution” to the peace process with Turkiye.

According to a statement published by Firat news agency, the group said that “as of the evening of November 16, our forces … in the Zap region have been withdrawn,” adding that “the risk of conflict in the area has been completely eliminated.”

The PKK argued that the pullout demonstrates its “commitment” to efforts to restructure ties with Ankara and would “serve the resolution of the Kurdish issue” as well as broader political reforms in Turkiye.

The withdrawal follows the group’s renunciation of armed struggle six months earlier, ending four decades of violence that killed an estimated 50,000 people.

After its formal dissolution in May, the PKK began destroying its weapons in July and, in late October, started pulling all its fighters from Turkish territory to northern Iraq.