Kurdistan rebels sets date for withdrawal from Turkey

Kurdistan Worker's Party rebels to withdraw from May 8 after three decades of fighting that claimed about 40,000 lives. 

The rebels from the Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK), who have been fighting the Turkish government for the last three decades, will move to northern Iraq after leaving Turkish territory.

During the announcement, the armed group warned Turkey's powerful military against "provocations" which would result in the end of the pledged withdrawal.

"It will be a phased withdrawal from Turkey. They won't put a number on how many fighters are coming but speaking later the PKK officials estimated that it will take several months for them to withdraw," they said.

"That's partly because this will be conducted as a guerrilla operation. One of the keys here is that they intend to keep their weapons. There will be no laying down of weapons in Turkey before they withdraw.

The pro-Kurdish Firat news agency says rebel commander Murat Karayilan made the withdrawal announcement on Thursday at a news conference in northern Iraq where the PKK's leadership is based.

The announcement comes after the PKK's jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan ordered on March 21 a historic ceasefire following clandestine negotiations with the Turkish secret service aimed at disarming the rebel group.

The PKK, blacklisted as a terrorist group by Turkey and much of the international community, started an armed rebellion in the Kurdish-majority southeast in 1984.

The group had originally demanded full independence for a Kurdish state in southeastern Turkey, but has moderated its goals to broader political and cultural autonomy.
Source: Aljazeera Posted by Unknown 4/25/2013