Government draws road map for the return of PKK militants

ANKARA

A sum of eight PKK camps and the headquarters in Kandil will be closed in the meantime, the newspaper said, adding disarmament would follow.

The government’s road map for a new wave of efforts to find a peaceful solution to the Kurdish question includes the return of outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants to Turkey between one to three years, daily Sabah reported July 7.

A sum of eight PKK camps and the headquarters in Kandil will be closed in the meantime, the newspaper said, adding disarmament would follow.

The government will take action after the parliamentary approval on a bill that mainly offers legal protection for the actors in the ongoing process, as the draft is expected to be voted on this week. The plans will be put into effect by the beginning of next year, Sabah also said.

The plan includes paving the way for the return of the militants who were not involved in armed action and are now in Europe or northern Iraq in one year.

The number of militants at Kandil is estimated at 5,000.

The PKK members who immigrated to European countries, particularly to Germany, France and Sweden, or those who have already founded businesses in northern Iraq, will return in two years, while the duration for those with an Interpol Red Notice on their name will be three years.

However, another plan will be valid for key PKK members who are known by name in Turkey.

The newspaper also noted that Deputy Prime Minister Beşir Atalay said the government was working on a scheduled action plan for the “[militants’] return.”