Sticking to its promises, the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) appears to have started pulling out from Turkey as agreed with Ankara. At least 50 militants are said to have crossed into Iraqi Kurdistan since May 8.
The process, however, is just starting. The statements made by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in late December and by PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan in March were only preliminary messages. The doubts are over. According to confidential information, the approximately 2,500 PKK rebels in Turkey will complete their withdrawal — armed or unarmed — sometime between Aug. 15 (the day PKK launched its armed rebellion in 1984) and Sept. 21 (World Peace Day).