PKK Withdrawal Claim Puts Northern Iraq’s Gara-Metina Line Back in Focus

By Bosphorus News Geopolitics Desk

A Turkish report has put northern Iraq's Gara-Metina line back on the PKK withdrawal map after claiming that members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) left 72 positions, but Ankara has not confirmed the claim.

Nefes reported on June 19, citing field intelligence findings, that PKK members had withdrawn from 72 sites in northern Iraq, with members of the group pulling back from parts of Gara and Metina. The report said Turkish units had moved into some vacated positions after searches for weapons and explosives.

The PKK is designated as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the United States and the European Union, and the 72-site claim has not been independently verified by major international wires or Kurdish regional outlets.

That makes the report a field signal rather than a confirmed military development. It also places ground verification at the centre of Türkiye's handling of the broader PKK process.

The Nefes report said some PKK members had moved deeper into northern Iraq, away from the Turkish border. It named areas linked to the Gara and Metina corridor and referred to Çemço in the Zap Valley as part of the wider field map.

The claim follows earlier withdrawal and verification reports from the same northern Iraq corridor. In November 2025, PKK-linked statements said forces had pulled back from Zap positions that could create a renewed clash risk. Rûdaw later reported in 2025 that Turkish intelligence and military teams had verified several emptied caves in Zap and Metina and destroyed ammunition found inside.

Those earlier reports do not confirm the new 72-site claim, but they show that northern Iraq has already become the practical test ground for the withdrawal file. The current question is whether the wider Gara, Metina and Zap claim can be verified on the ground.

The Turkish military has built its northern Iraq presence through a series of cross-border operations against the PKK, including Operation Claw-Lock. That presence gives Ankara a direct field role in checking withdrawal claims along the Iraqi border belt.

If confirmed, the Nefes report would be one of the largest field-level claims in the withdrawal file. Until then, the 72-site figure should be treated as a monitored signal, not a verified military development.

Sources: Nefes, Rûdaw, Habertürk, Reuters, Bosphorus News review and reporting.