Peace can be started

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) head António Guterres has said the voluntary return to Turkey of Turkish Kurds living in the Makhmour refugee camp in northern Iraq can be started if and when the peace process launched in Turkey concludes successfully.

"We are all hopeful,” he said, speaking to reporters in Ankara on Monday, “that [there is] a process launched by the government,” referring to talks state authorities have been holding with the imprisoned leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) since last October.
“An opportunity can be created for the voluntary repatriation of Makhmour refugees,” he said, provided that the peace process concludes successfully.

Highlighting that the camp has been administered by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) with the help of the UNHCR, Guterres said his organization is ready to help facilitate the return of Turkish Kurdish refugees to Turkey.

It is estimated that more than 10,000 Turkish Kurds are living in the camp, and the bulk of them are women and children. The Makhmour camp refugees fled Turkey after clashes between Turkish security forces and the PKK in the 1990s. The camp today looks like a small town with mud-brick houses.

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