Turkey has ended its ground offensive against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and is withdrawing its forces from northern
In a statement on Friday,
The PKK was shown "that northern
At least 240 Kurdish fighters were killed during the operation, the statement said, while the army lost 27 soldiers.
The PKK claims to have killed more than 100 Turkish soldiers but has not given a figure for fighter casualties.
"All the Turkish troops have withdrawn and gone back to the Turkish side of the international border."
George Bush, the
The army said the withdrawal decision was made "under no external or internal influence".
It said
Mike Hanna, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Iraq, said: "The Turkish military insists that the decision was taken by the military alone but reports we're receiving from across the border in Turkey is that questions are being raised about the Turkish withdrawal coming so soon after what appeared to be mounting US pressure on the troops to pull out."
Ahmed Danis, a spokesman for the PKK, confirmed the Turkish troop pull-out.
Withdrawal 'victory'
He said: "We are observing military movements like empty military trucks coming from
"If they [Turkish troops] withdraw completely it would be a victory for
Zap is located northwest of the city of
It is said to have a large training base for the PKK.
Al Jazeera's Hoda Abdel Hamid, reporting from the town of
"The fierce fighting we have seen has decreased significantly."
The PKK, listed as a terrorist group by
PHOTO CAPTION
Turkish soldiers returning from their mission near the town of
Al-Jazeera