Special to WorldTribune.com

ANKARA — The Kurdish Workers Party has scheduled the launch of a
military withdrawal from Turkey on May 8.

A senior commander said the PKK, headed by jailed leader Abdullah
Ocalan, would pull out units from Turkey should Ankara suspend all counter-insurgency
operations.

Murat Karayilan, who controls the PKK base in northern Iraq,
said the Kurdish fighters would be redeployed to what he termed “southern Kurdistan,” a reference to Iraq’s Kandil mountains.

“The disarmament of guerrillas will be brought to the agenda following
the realization of this process, which will witness the liberation of
everyone, including that of leader Ocalan,” Karayilan said.

On April 24, Karayilan told a news conference that the PKK would
withdraw from Turkey in three phases. He said the process would be completed “as soon as possible.”

Officials confirmed the PKK decision to withdraw from Turkey to
neighboring countries Iraq and Syria. They said the Turkish intelligence
community estimated some 2,000 PKK fighters.

“We are in a delicate period,” parliamentarian Aysenur Bahcekapili,
deputy chairman of the Turkish opposition, said. “Everyone must be careful
with the way they talk, with every word they say.”

Karayilan warned that the PKK pullout would be suspended should the
Turkish military or security forces attack the withdrawing Kurdish fighters.
He said the PKK would use specific routes in a pullout coordinated with
Ankara before the second phase would begin. The second phase would stipulate
the disbanding of the Turkish Village Guards.

“With the reforms within the frame of a constitutional solution, the
conditions for democratization in real terms and a solution to the Kurdish
problem will emerge,” Karayilan said.

  000 Kurdish guerrillas, Abdullah Ocalan, Aysenur Bahcekapili, Kurdish Workers Party, Murat Karayilan, Turkey prepares for ‘delicate’ withdrawal of some 2, Turkish Village Guards