Kurdish fighters are due to begin their withdrawal from Turkey into northern Iraq, a major step towards ending a decades-long conflict.
The pullout, announced in March, is the first visible sign that months of talks between the state and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) could succeed in ending 29 years of fighting.
About 2,000 PKK members are expected to begin leaving Turkey on foot, travelling through the mountainous border zone to reach their safe haven in the Qandil mountains in northern Iraq.
They will join another 5,000 fighters at the command base, which has been used as a springboard for attacks against Turkish security forces.
"The withdrawals are expected to take three or four months to complete," said Selahattin Demirtas, a pro-Kurdish politician who has been part of the peace process.
Al Jazeera's Omar Al Saleh, reporting from Duhok in northern Iraq, said on Wednesday that the PKK has released a statement saying their withdrawal had started, and that the fighters leaving their camps had said it would take several weeks to reach the Qandil mountain stronghold.
There had been no confirmation from the Turkish state that the withdrawal was under way.
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