A Kurdish militant picks his manner alongside a switchback highway in Iraq’s mountains earlier than pulling over to alert his comrades in a close-by hidden bunker that they’re about to have firm.
After calling from a cellphone dangling from a tree, he leads a staff of AFP journalists right into a bunker underneath the Qandil mountains, the place they’ve been granted uncommon entry to the Kurdistan Staff’ Occasion (PKK) rear base in northern Iraq.
“A peace course of does not imply leaving the mountains,” says Serda Mazlum Gabar, a 47-year-old commander together with her lengthy, rust-coloured hair and unfailing smile.
“Even when we depart, we’ll stay the identical manner,” she added. “Nature would not scare me, however I would not really feel secure strolling round a metropolis, with its vehicles, smoke and visitors.”
Answering a name from the group’s imprisoned founder Abdullah Ocalan, the PKK has taken historic steps in current months in direction of ending its decades-old battle in opposition to Turkey that has claimed round 50,000 lives.
The group formally renounced its armed battle. Thirty of its fighters even burned their weapons in a symbolic transfer, though many fighters primarily based in Qandil carried rifles throughout AFP’s go to.
For many years, the PKK has discovered sanctuary in mountains in northern Iraq and southeastern Turkey.
Even when combating has stopped, the guerrilla way of life will not finish. It would reasonably adapt to new “peaceable” methods, the commander stated.
“We weren’t pressured into this life. We selected it,” she added.
– ‘Not one place’ –
On the entrance, a big fan is connected to a duct that runs right into a hid passage, ventilating recent air to the hidden bunker.
The tunnel then opens right into a broader hall the place PKK members and commanders dressed of their conventional army gown –- olive inexperienced fatigues or a dusty-coloured sirwal and vest –- line as much as greet guests.
The hall branches out to a number of rooms, every serving a goal. One, its entrance embellished with recent crops and strings of lights, is quarters designated for ladies fighters.
Iraq’s mountains have lately welcomed new arrivals — fighters who withdrew from Turkey to indicate the group’s dedication to the peace course of.
Amongst them is Vejin Dersim who joined the PKK at solely 23 and had spent most of her time in southeastern Turkey.
Now 34, she has withdrawn to Iraq’s mountains.
“Leaving was very emotional. It’s a very particular place there, particularly as a result of we have been nearer to chief Apo,” she stated, referring to Ocalan, who has been held in solitary confinement on Turkey’s Imrali island since 1999.
Her comrade Devrim Palu, 47, joined the motion in 1999 and has lately returned to Iraq.
“In our motion, it would not matter the place you might be combating, and one would not keep in a single place,” he stated in a gentle, low voice.
As we speak is the time for change, he stated.
He added that the PKK is able to altering the character of the battle and transition from conflict to peaceable engagement.
– ‘Eyes closed’ –
Over many years, the PKK — nonetheless formally designated a “terrorist group” by america and the European Union — has gone by a number of durations of peace talks with Turkey.
They’ve gone by a number of seismic shifts from beginning as a separatist motion to steadily changing into advocates for Kurdish equality in Turkey.
It now says it’s coming into a brand new section by pursuing a democratic path to defend the rights of the Kurdish minority.
Based on Devrim Palu, it’s usually simpler to be primarily based in Iraq as a result of the highest commanders are nearer, and information arrives firsthand.
Within the bunker that AFP visited, the partitions are adorned with photos of Ocalan and fallen fighters.
In a kitchen, PKK members knead dough to make lahmajun, which is bread topped with meat. Others watched TV, drank tea or chatted within the corridors.
One is a delegated room to take care of communications with others within the surrounding mountains.
Qandil has been house to the PKK for years -– a spot that provided larger refuge than the mountains of southeast Turkey.
At first, fighters hid in caves, then started carving and digging dozens of their very own well-maintained bunkers. Qandil turned their headquarters.
“I may drive these mountains with my eyes closed,” one member stated, skillfully navigating the rugged tracks at excessive velocity within the pitch-dark night time.