The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) terror group is withdrawing from Iraq's Sinjar, the Firat news agency, which is close to the PKK, said on Friday, citing a statement by the KCK umbrella group.
"Guerrilla forces are withdrawing from Sinjar," KCK said in a statement on Friday, the Firat news agency reported.
KCK is an umbrella group that includes the PKK, Democratic Union Party (PYD), Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK) and Kurdistan Democratic Solution Party (PCDK).
Earlier in the week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said that Ankara asked the Iraqi government to clear the PKK's presence from northern Iraq’s Sinjar, and that Turkey would conduct an operation there if necessary.
"We will come overnight all of a sudden and clear Sinjar too," he said.
On Sunday, the northwestern Syrian town of Afrin, which had been a major hideout for the PYD/PKK since 2012, was liberated as part of Turkey's ongoing Operation Olive Branch.
Operation Olive Branch was initiated on Jan. 20 in Afrin to establish security and stability, eliminate terrorists of PKK/KCK/PYD-YPG and Daesh, and save locals from the terrorists’ oppression and cruelty.
The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the European Union and the United States. The PKK has been conducting armed violence in the southeastern part of Turkey since 1984. More than 40,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in the three-decade long conflict.
