SHOTLIST Pervari, Siirt 1. Wide of village in mountainous Pervari district of Siirt Province 2. Wide of houses in village 3. Mid of ruins of houses on grassy slope 4. Tents and makeshift shelters pitched by village residents who returned to area 5. Mid of woman going about her chores 6. Wide of tents and makeshift shelter on grass 7. SOUNDBITE (Kurdish) Salih Behcet, Village resident: "We are so happy because of these developments. We witnessed many bad things (clashes) since 1993. Our children were arrested, some of them killed during this period (1993-2012) by Turkish soldiers and Kurdish rebels. We don't want to see the same suffering from now on. We came back here with my brother and our children. They miss their village very much. After the ceasefire they can return to their village safely." 8. Various of house under construction 9. SOUNDBITE (Kurdish) Zubeyir Akagac, Village resident: "Our village was destroyed in 1993 because of these clashes. We are really hopeful about this peace process. That's enough! We don't want anyone to die from now on. We (Turks and Kurds) are all brothers and are not different from each other. We returned to our village because we want to be here from now on." Istanbul 10. Various of analyst Atilla Sandikli in his office 11. SOUNDBITE (Turkish) Atilla Sandikli, Associate Professor and President of Wise Men Strategic Studies: "The withdrawal process is a very important step and it's been carried out in quite a wholesome fashion. However, we should state that the withdrawal process is not the primary objective. The primary objective is to have the PKK disarmed and disbanded. Thus there has been a great achievement in the first stage. Seeing this through, making the PKK terrorist organisation start the disarmament process and disband itself afterwards are the main objectives." 12. Cutaway of Sandikli's eyes 13. SOUNDBITE (Turkish) Atilla Sandikli, Associate Professor and President of Wise Men Strategic Studies: "The PKK terrorist organisation is imposing some conditions for disarmament and these conditions possess some factors that aggravate the process. For instance, the demand for (rebel leader) Abdullah Ocalan's release. An aggravating discourse or expectation might well lead to a public reaction. Thus, after the withdrawal process is completed, the disarmament process and the democratisation process should take place, both at the same time." Pervari, Siirt 14. Various of ruins of destroyed house in village STORYLINE: Ethnic Kurds, who fled their homes to escape clashes between Turkish soldiers and the PKK, expressed their hopes for an end to the violence after the Kurdish rebels confirmed they would start withdrawing forces from Turkey to bases in northern Iraq. Many Turkish Kurds began returning to their home villages in Turkey's Siirt province, after the PKK - the Kurdistan Workers' Party - declared a ceasefire in March. As part of the deal, the PKK promised to pull fighters out of Turkey and begin peace talks aimed at ending a nearly three-decade-old conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people. A rebel statement on Tuesday said that the first group of fighters would leave Turkey on Wednesday and be settled in bases in northern Iraq within a week. "We are so happy because of these developments," said Salih Behcet, a 75-year-old resident of a village in the mountainous Pervari district of Siirt. Behcet, who fled to Istanbul during the height of fighting against rebels in the 1990s, said he and his family decided to return to his home village to spend the rest of their lives there, hopefully in peace, after the ceasefire was announced. Many returned to homes destroyed by clashes. They have had to pitch tents on the grassy slopes, while rebuilding their homes. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/d4e79292b41bd6b60ab1c79df1312b4d Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork

• published: 31 Jul 2015
• views: 17