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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) clarified on Sunday that the unilateral ceasefire they announced with the Turkish army the previous day applies to all of its affiliated groups, especially those operating within Turkey.
The PKK declared a unilateral ceasefire with Turkey on Saturday, stating it agrees with the contents of Abdullah Ocalan’s recent letter that called on the group to disarm and disband, but set a physical meeting with their jailed leader as a precondition for any successful peace process.
“This decision applies especially to all structures including our main forces in Turkey and Northern Kurdistan [Kurdish-majority areas in northeast Turkey], as well as special mission commando teams and all autonomous units, YPS, MAK and similar self-defense units, and everyone must comply with it,” said the PKK-linked People’s Defense Center (NPG), PKK’s de facto operation room overseeing the activities of all PKK-linked groups in the region, in a statement.
Civilian Defense Units (YPS) and Militants of Kurdistan Freedom (MAK) are PKK-linked groups which operate in populated areas in Turkey.
“All relevant structures with autonomous mobility capabilities need to redeploy themselves on the basis of self-defense within the framework of this decision. In this important process, none of our forces should ever experience any relaxation in measures, and should strengthen defense measures under all conditions,” added the NPG statement.
NPG also said that it is a “fundamental duty” for the People’s Defense Forces (HPG), which is the PKK wing for members fighting on mountains, and its affiliates to “act sensitively and responsibly” and take precautions to avoid “possible provocative situations that may develop.”
Despite the ceasefire, clashes between the Turkish army and the PKK in the Kurdistan Region continue.
Kamaran Osman, a member of the Community Peacemakers Teams (CPT), a human rights organization monitoring the conflict, told Rudaw on Sunday that Turkey carried out an overnight attack near Duhok province’s Deraluk subdistrict.
“The attack was carried out through a helicopter and the PKK responded with gunfire. The clashes lasted for 45 minutes,” Osman stated.
An eyewitness told Rudaw that there was “fierce” fighting, adding that it caused fear among villagers.
PKK’s Leadership Committee, the most senior executive body of the group, announced in a statement early Saturday morning that it “fully” agrees with the contents of Ocalan’s letter that carried the call for peace.
Ocalan, who has been jailed since 1999, on Thursday released a message for his followers via a letter shared by delegates who visited him at Imrali prison. The letter called on the PKK to end its decades-long armed struggle against the Turkish state by disarming and dissolving itself.
"Undoubtedly, making such a call was of historical importance. Now, successfully putting its content into practice is of similar importance. As the PKK, we fully accept the content of this call and state that we will comply with and implement the requirements of the call on our part. However, we want to emphasize that for success, a suitable democratic political and legal foundation must also be established," said the PKK leadership on Saturday.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday said Ankara is open to compromise and dialogue, but threatened to continue military operations “if the promises given are not kept.”
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