Special to WorldTribune.com

ANKARA — The Kurdish Workers Party has begun its withdrawal from
Turkey.

Officials said the PKK has been pulling out fighters from Turkey as part
of a ceasefire agreement.

“They [PKK] surely know the routes from which they have entered Turkey
and can use the same routes to leave,” Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan
said.

The officials said around 100 PKK operatives left Turkey for Syria and northern Iraq in May 2013.

“It is hard to say with precision what is happening and at what time,”
Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc said.

Arinc said the PKK fighters appeared to be headed for their headquarters
in the northern Iraqi mountains of Kandil. He said the Turkish intelligence community, particularly the National Intelligence Organization, was tracking the movement of the Kurdish insurgents.

“On this issue, Kandil may have its own calendar and dates set,” Arinc
said. “What matters to us is the result, and it looks like we are getting
there.”

The Turkish intelligence community has determined that the PKK
maintained at least 2,000 fighters in Turkey. Officials said the fighters
were supported by thousands of members of sleeper cells. The PKK was
believed to deploy 4,000 fighters in Iraq.

On the eve of the May 8 pullout, the PKK warned against Turkish military
reconnaissance operations. The PKK said the military’s use of unmanned
aerial vehicles was endangering the withdrawal.

Officials said the PKK fighters were expected to arrive at bases in Iraq
by mid-May. But they said Iraq reinforced forces along the Turkish border to
prevent the PKK entry, expected to be completed by August.

  Bulent Arinc, Kandil mountains, Kurdish Workers Party, Turkish intel monitoring exit of Kurdish fighters to northern Iraq