Iraq has said it will not permit militants from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) to remain on its soil as fighters from the group continued the second day of a withdrawal from Turkey to northern Iraq as part of an ongoing peace process.
The Iraqi Foreign Ministry said in a written statement on its website yesterday that the country “does not accept the entry of armed groups into its territory … [otherwise it will] undermine the security and stability of Iraq or … neighboring countries.”
PKK militants started to withdraw from Turkish soil on May 8 in line with a recent announcement by senior PKK leader Murat Karayılan at a press conference in the Kandil mountains of northern Iraq.