Turkey presses on with PKK operations in Iraq, Syria despite Öcalan call

Reuters

Turkey's armed forces have killed 26 Kurdish militants in Iraq and Syria in the week since jailed militant leader Abdullah Öcalan's disarmament call, the defence ministry said on March 6.

Öcalan last week called on his outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) to lay down its arms and dissolve, and the militant group declared an immediate ceasefire on Saturday.

"The Turkish Armed Forces will continue its operations and search-scanning activities in the region for the survival and security of our country," the defence ministry said in a statement.

"(It) will continue its fight against terrorism with determination and resolve until there is not a single terrorist left," it added.

The ministry said the PKK militants had been "neutralized" in Iraq and Syria, without specifying where the incidents took place. The ministry's use of the term "neutralized" commonly means killed.

The PKK, designated a terrorist group by Turkey and its Western allies, said it was ready to convene a congress, as Öcalan urged, but the necessary security conditions should be established for him to "personally direct and run" it.

The Syrian Kurdish People's Defense Units (YPG) militia, which Ankara views as an extension of the PKK, has said Öcalan's message does not apply to them. The YPG is the spearhead of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a key U.S. ally against Islamic State in Syria.

"As in the call (by Öcalan), the PKK and all groups affiliated with it must end their terrorist activities, dissolve themselves, and immediately and unconditionally lay down their weapons," a defense ministry source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told reporters.

Öcalan's message did not include a call for a ceasefire and the PKK's declaration of a ceasefire aims to sow confusion, the source added.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on March 1 Ankara would continue operations against the PKK if the group's process of disarmament was stalled or its promises were not kept.

Erdoğan's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) spokesperson Ömer Çelik said all Kurdish militants in Iraq and Syria, including the U.S.-allied SDF, must lay down their weapons.

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