The Qandil Mountains (Kurdish: چیایێن قەندیلێ Çiyayên Qendîlê, Arabic: جبل قنديل), are a mountainous area of Kurdistan near the Iran-Iraq border. The region belongs to the Zagros mountain range and is difficult to access, with extremely rugged terrain. The highest peaks reach over 3,000m.

Feb 21, 2025 · Collectively known as “Qandil,” these leaders include Murat Karayilan, Cemil Bayik, and Duran Kalkan, among other figures. Most of them share Ocalan’s pedigree: Turkish-born Kurds who dropped out of prestigious universities in the 1970s to establish the PKK as a Marxist-Leninist revolutionary group.

Mar 1, 2025 · Across the mountainous Iraqi border, which for years saw PKK insurgents slip into Turkey to stage attacks, Kurds in Sulaymaniyah welcomed the ceasefire with hopeful expectation. Najmadin Bahaadin described it as a “historical moment” different from previous peace deals.

13 hours ago · The PKK leadership – from its longstanding command centre in Iraq’s Qandil Mountains – responded to Ocalan’s call by declaring a unilateral ceasefire with final disbandment as well as ...

Feb 27, 2025 · For more than four decades, Turkey has been fighting an armed insurgency by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or P.K.K., a militant group that says it seeks greater rights for the country’s Kurdish...

3 days ago · PKK dissolution process gains clarity, with congress likely in Erbil or Sulaymaniyah, and disarmament overseen by Türkiye, Iraq, and Syria. ... Terrorists of the PKK carry a rifle on a road in the Qandil Mountains, the PKK headquarters in Iraq, on June 22, 2018 (AFP Photo)

Feb 27, 2025 · Imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan issued a call for the militant group to lay down its arms after four decades of conflict with the Turkish state.

1 day ago · Two days later, the PKK leadership headquartered in northern Iraq’s Qandil mountains responded by declaring a unilateral ceasefire in the group’s decades-long struggle with Ankara, which has ...

Nov 3, 2024 · PKK is experiencing a significant decline in its operational capabilities in the Qandil Mountains, its long-standing headquarters in northern Iraq, Türkiye's land forces commander has stated.

Feb 27, 2025 · PKK's main headquarters were also moved to the Qandil mountains of northern Iraq following the leader's departure from Syria. February 15, 1999: Turkish special forces captured Mr Ocalan from Kenya. Bound and blindfolded, he was flown to Turkey.