Turkiye launches coordinated effort to disarm PKK with Iraqi, Syrian cooperation

Turkish National Intelligence Organisation (MIT) is taking decisive steps to oversee the surrender of weapons by the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a terrorist organisation long involved in violent activities against Türkiye.

As part of the operation, MIT is setting up a collaborative mechanism involving the Iraqi central government, the Northern Iraqi administration, and the Turkish Armed Forces to track and recover the weapons held by the PKK, Caliber.Az reports, citing Turkish media

The process is being conducted in close coordination with authorities in Baghdad, Erbil, and Sulaymaniyah, with an additional focus on the PKK’s affiliates in Syria. The Turkish government has also ensured that the disarmament process will extend to the Syrian Kurdish militia, the YPG, which has been linked to the PKK. This effort in Syria is being carried out in cooperation with the Damascus administration.

Türkiye is keeping a close eye on the implementation of the disarmament decisions made by the Syrian government to ensure that the YPG lays down its arms and engages politically rather than militarily. This reflects Türkiye’s broader aim to dismantle the PKK’s operational capacity across the region.

The next phase of the operation will involve a thorough clean-up of terrorist camps and caves, identifying hidden weapons caches, and ensuring that the PKK’s infrastructure is dismantled. A special commission will be established to oversee these steps as part of Türkiye's larger effort to tackle terrorism and reinforce regional stability.

The democratisation process is expected to progress once MIT submits a report confirming that the arms surrender process has been successfully completed. According to the current timeline, the arms surrender operation is slated to finish by early September.

By Vafa Guliyeva