By Çiçek TAHAOĞLU, bianet:

The first group of PKK guerrillas – 7 men and 6 women – arrived at South Kurdistan Media Defense Area along with journalists Hasan Cemal and Erdal Er.

13 PKK guerrillas who headed from Turkey’s Beytüşşebap district arrived at Heror in Metina region, South Kurdistan at 6:25 am local time. The group became the first to complete withdrawal from Turkey in accordance with the peace process between the Turkish state and the PKK.

They were received by a group of journalists and guerrillas.

Both the arriving and receiving guerrillas seemed so excited, especially women hugging each other in longing.

Following a ceremony held by 30 receiving guerrillas, a press conference was held where PKK guerillas said they trusted their leader [Abdullah Öcalan] and not the Turkish state regarding the withdrawal process.

“As Öcalan pointed out, there is a need for peace process. The basis of peace is the very basis of humanity as well,” the press statement said.

A PKK guerrilla spoke to bianet who said he was so astonished when Öcalan’s Newroz statement was read in Diyarbakir.

“It was first in Kurdish. I couldn’t believe my eyes as I read the subtitles. Then they read it in Turkish and I was about to have a stroke,” he said. “After all, we respect our leader’s decision.”

“We will miss the mountains but we came here for our leadership,” a woman guerrilla said.

Another guerrilla said she couldn’t do the interview in Turkish as they fought for their mother tongue.

“The trail was challenging due to weather conditions and drones but guerrillas managed it easy,” she said.

Text & pic – bianet