The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) is withdrawing all its forces from Turkey and moving them to the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region of Iraq, the group announced on Sunday.
The historic move is aimed at advancing a peace process with Ankara to its second phase after the group's jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan in May called for disarming and disbanding.
In July, a small group of PKK fighters began the process by giving up their weapons at a symbolic ceremony in northern Iraq to mark the end of their decades-long armed struggle against the Turkish state. The group is designated a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the US and European Union.
On Sunday, a statement published by the PKK's Firat news agency said all forces in Turkey would be withdrawn to the Medya Defence Areas, which include Mount Qandil in Sulaymaniyah province, where the group’s headquarters are located.
The PKK held a press conference at the foot of Mount Qandil that was attended by 25 fighters who travelled from Turkey. "We are implementing the withdrawal of all our forces," they said.
The Kurdish group urged Ankara to push through the legal measures necessary to safeguard the peace process and allow for a transition by PKK militants to democratic politics.
"The legal and political steps required by the process ... and the laws of freedom and democratic integration necessary to participate in democratic politics must be put in place without delay," it said.
Senior PKK militant Sabri Ok told reporters at the ceremony that "significant steps need to be taken - legal arrangements for a process compatible with freedom", referring to laws governing the fate of those who renounce armed struggle.
"We want laws that are specific to the process," he said. "We hope the authorities will fulfil their responsibilities."
Omer Celik, spokesman for the party of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, described the PKK's withdrawal as "concrete results of progress in the terror-free Turkey".
In a statement on X, Mr Celik said the move would help shape a "positive framework" to be established by a parliamentary commission set up to create the legal and political path forward. After the symbolic disarmament ceremony in the summer, the Turkish parliament established the 51-member commission with the participation of all political parties.
Sunday's announcement is the latest step in the landmark peace process. Founded in the late 1970s by Ocalan, the PKK took up arms in 1984, carrying out a string of bloody attacks on Turkish soil that led to a conflict that has cost more than 40,000 lives.
But in May, the PKK said it would switch to a democratic struggle to defend the rights of the Kurdish minority in line with the call by Ocalan, who has been serving a life sentence in Turkey since 1999.
DEM, Turkey's third-biggest political party, has played a key role in facilitating the peace deal. Turkish media have reported that a party delegation will meet Mr Erdogan in the coming days before travelling to see Ocalan in prison on Imrali island.
The PKK has been based in northern Iraq since being pushed beyond Turkey's south-eastern frontier in recent years. Turkey's military carries out regular strikes on PKK bases in the region and has established several military outposts to combat the group.
Over the years, the PKK's goals have shifted from seeking an independent state to pursuing greater Kurdish rights and limited autonomy in the mainly Kurdish south-east of Turkey. Turkey says it protects Kurdish rights but that it will not allow separatism.
Syria's new authorities have also clashed with Kurdish representatives over their desire for some autonomy in the new state. President Ahmad Al Shara has rejected Kurdish calls for federalism but has not managed to assert government control over heavily Kurdish parts of the country. Tensions involving the mainly Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces threatened to spill over into urban warfare in Aleppo this month until a truce was agreed.
