Special to WorldTribune.com

ANKARA — The Kurdish Workers Party is expected to complete its
withdrawal from Turkey by July.

Kurdish politicians said some 2,000 PKK fighters would withdraw from
Turkey. The officials said PKK squads were steadily moving through
southeastern Turkey for either Iraq and Syria.

On June 3, Turkey’s military reported a PKK attack near the border with
Iraq. The attack in Turkey’s Sirnak province, the first since the withdrawal
began a month ago, was said to have injured one soldier.

“A group of terrorists opened fire and, as a result of the shooting, one
Gendarmerie sergeant was slightly wounded by the one of the stones
ricocheting off the ground,” the military said.

Officials said the PKK began the actual withdrawal around May 10. They
said the Turkish Army was monitoring the pullout and suspended operations against the Kurdish insurgents.

Selahattin Demirtas, chairman of Peace and Democracy Party, said the PKK
withdrawal would mark the first step toward a Turkish reconciliation with
its Kurdish minority. Demirtas said parliament would be required to reform the constitution to enable the Kurds
to exercise cultural and educational rights.

  Gendarmerie, Kurdish Workers Party, Kurds’ withdrawal from Turkey to Iraq, Selahattin Demirtas, Sirnak province, Syria nearly complete