MESOP : FOLLOWING THE APO SUBMISSION / MORE THAN 1,000 Kurdish PKK fighters surrendered in Turkey during peace talks

NORTH KURDISTAN (TURKEY) – ANKARA, 23 March Hurriyet / Mesop – The number of the Kurdish militants from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) who laid down arms and surrendered to Turkish security forces has reached 988 since the beginning of 2013, when the Kurdish peace process began, according to data collected by the Interior Ministry. The data showed there has been a rise in the number of PKK militants surrendering since the beginning of the ongoing Kurdish peace process. The new data, which covers the last three years, showed 150 PKK militants surrendered themselves to security forces in 2012. It also showed the number has continued to rise since 2013, when the peace process began. Accordingly, a total of 233 PKK militants surrendered in 2013, while the number rose to 500 last year. Meanwhile, 105 PKK militants have laid down arms and surrendered to security forces in the first three months of this year, pushing the total number of surrendered militants to 988 over the last three years.