Kurdish Pkk  terrorists  have begun to withdraw from Turkey in a step forward for a peace process aimed at ending an insurgency which has killed 40,000 people in the Turkey southeast region.

Turkish security forces manned checkpoints along the mountainous border with Iraq as the first small groups of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) fighters began to move.

The withdrawal, ordered last month by top PKK commander Murat Karayilan, is the biggest step yet in a peace deal negotiated by the group’s jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan after 30 years of conflict.

The PKK declared a ceasefire in March, but has rejected demands to disarm from the Turkish government.

Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) co-leader Gultan Kisanak said: “I can say the withdrawal began today based on the information we have.

“Local sources report that the armed PKK militants are on the move.”

Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has gambled on the process, causing a nationalist backlash before elections next year as he attempts to end a conflict which has affected Turkey’s image abroad.

Karayilan has warned that PKK fighters will retaliate if they are attacked by the Turkish army as they withdraw to Iraq.

The group has complained about “provocative” acts by the Turkish government, including construction of military border posts, reconnaissance flights by unmanned drones and mobilisation of troops.

Withdrawals in 1999 were disrupted when Turkish forces ambushed departing rebels, killing around 500 people and wrecking hopes for a permanent peace.

The PKK, considered a terrorist organisation by Turkey and the West, is believed to have between 1,500 and 2,000 fighters inside Turkey, as well as several thousand in northern Iraq.

A full withdrawal is expected to take several months.

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