An Iraqi leader has stressed that the dissolution of the PKK party has put an end to all pretexts for the Turkish occupation of the Arab country.

The secretary general of the Iraqi Asaib Ahl al-Haq movement, Qais al-Jazali, has called on the Iraqi government and parliament on Monday to take the necessary measures to guarantee the country’s sovereignty, ensure the withdrawal of Turkish forces from Iraqi territory and protect the border strip.

This comes after the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) announced its dissolution. Al-Jazali stressed that this announcement put an end to the Turkish army’s pretext for occupying areas of Iraq.

“Following the Kurdistan Workers’ Party’s announcement of its dissolution and disarmament, on the initiative of its leader, Abdollah Öcalan, more than four decades of conflict with successive Turkish governments, which has claimed the lives of tens of thousands of people, came to an end,” he said.

The Iraqi leader has pointed out that the PKK’s move leaves the Turkish army with no excuse to maintain its occupation of vast areas, totaling more than five thousand square kilometers of Iraqi territory, and its more than 183 military bases in the lands of Duhok and Erbil governorates, in addition to the Bashiqa base in Nineveh governorate.

“The Iraqi government must follow up the implementation of the peace process and provide all possible capabilities to ensure its success, as this is in the supreme interest of Iraq and to preserve its security and sovereignty,” Al-Jazali has posited.

He further pointed out that Iraqi forces are present to protect the border from the Iraqi side, which is important and necessary to ensure that PKK elements do not cross it again, and is also a guarantee to prevent the entry of Turkish forces in the future, for whatever reason, he added.

The PKK, a militant group that has been in armed conflict with the Turkish state for more than four decades, announced Monday its dissolution and the end of its armed struggle.

The decision, according to the Kurdish-language Firat news agency, followed a congress held last week in northern Iraq and comes in response to a call by the jailed group’s chief, Abdullah Öcalan, to disband.

The PKK’s dissolution would mark a historic event that experts say could pave the way for peace efforts between the Turkish state and various Kurdish groups or for revising Turkish-Kurdish relations.