MESOP REPORT : Second round of meetings between PDKI & PKK / WATCH VIDEO

 EAST KURDISTAN (IRAN) – On June 13, 2015, a PKK delegation visited PDKI at the party’s headquarter in southern (Iraqi) Kurdistan. This was the second meeting between PDKI and PKK to resolve outstanding issues between the parties following a PKK ambush on one of PDKI’s Peshmerga units on May 24. In the ambush a Peshmerga was killed and three others were injured. The first meeting between PDKI and PKK took place on May 28 in Hewler (Erbil), the capital of southern Kurdistan. The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) acted as mediator. PDKI has made a strategic decision to reinvigorate its decades-long struggle against the Islamic Republic of Iran. To this end, there will be greater emphasis on the role of PDKI’s Peshmerga Forces.

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Two months ago PDKI deployed its Peshmerga Forces to the border region between south and eastern Kurdistan. The area is also known as the Qandil-mountains, where the PDKI had several bases and more than 10,000 Peshmergas from the mid-1980s to the beginning of the 1990s.

In 1993 PDKI decided to leave the border region following Iranian pressure on the KRG and constant shelling of civilian populated areas in KRG territory. Since the early 90s, the PKK has increased its military presence in the area. The PDKI has made it clear that the Peshmerga Forces will stay in the border area and that PDKI will not withdraw its Peshmerga Forces. One Peshmerga unit was surrounded by PKK fighters in late may. PDKI reached out to PKK to find a solution to the crisis. In spite of PKK’s attack on one of PDKI’s Peshmerga units, the leadership of PDKI has consistently called for dialogue and negotiations to find a solution that serves the interests of both parties. In their statements, both delegations described the today’s negotiations as a step forward. “We agreed to hold further meetings to discuss practical steps in pursuit of resolving outstanding issues,” a PDKI official said following the meeting. http://pdki.org/english/second-round-of-meetings-between-pdki-and-pkk/