A small number of a second group of Turkish-Kurdish militants are reported to have pulled back from Turkey on May 15 — into their camps in northern Iraq as part of the beginning of a peace move initiated by the Turkish government to find a political settlement to its three-decade-long Kurdish uprising that has taken the lives of about 50,000 people including civilians, security forces as well as Kurdish rebels.
A cease-fire declared by Turkey’s outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) upon a call made by its imprisoned leader Abdullah Ocalan on March 21 is followed by the withdrawal process of the PKK militants as of May 8, from Turkish soil to their bases in northern Iraq.
There are an estimated 2,000 PKK militants based on Turkish territory, mainly in the Kurdish-dominated southeastern parts of the country. The remaining 3,000 to 4,000 militants are mainly based in the remote Kandil Mountains in northern Iraq, in addition to bases the organization calls "Media Defense Areas," close to the Turkish border region.
On May 15, the Turkish media reported entry of around a further 15 PKK militants following the arrival of a second group the previous day into northern Iraq.
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