In Turkey, on the other hand, seven members of the PKK were released last week after surrendering to security forces, under laws that grant amnesty for repentant members of the terrorist group. Anatolia gave only the initials of the released PKK members, whose ages ranged between 18 and 34.
Citing testimony the terrorist group members gave security forces, Anatolia said the PKK members were reluctant to launch attacks on Iranian targets due to Tehran’s strictly implemented capital punishment laws. More than 10 PKK members have been sentenced to death on charges of carrying out bombings, threatening Iran’s national security, murder, abduction and drug smuggling. They are now waiting for their sentences to be carried out.
The PKK’s Iranian offshoot, a group called the Party for a Free Life in Kurdistan (PJAK), has carried out several attacks on Iranian security forces. Turkey and Iran are cooperating against the terrorist threat, but Ankara has recently launched an initiative to resolve the Kurdish issue and end the PKK problem through more democratic reforms, although military operations against the group continue.
