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PKK Withdrawal Ended First Peace Process Phase, Says Türkiye's DEM

Fighters with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) walk for a disarmament ceremony marking a significant step toward ending the decades-long conflict between Türkiye and the outlawed group in the Qandil mountains, Iraq on October 26, 2025. © Thaier Al-Sudan, Reuters
Fighters with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) walk for a disarmament ceremony marking a significant step toward ending the decades-long conflict between Türkiye and the outlawed group in the Qandil mountains, Iraq on October 26, 2025. © Thaier Al-Sudan, Reuters
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PKK Withdrawal Ended First Peace Process Phase, Says Türkiye's DEM

Fighters with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) walk for a disarmament ceremony marking a significant step toward ending the decades-long conflict between Türkiye and the outlawed group in the Qandil mountains, Iraq on October 26, 2025. © Thaier Al-Sudan, Reuters
Fighters with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) walk for a disarmament ceremony marking a significant step toward ending the decades-long conflict between Türkiye and the outlawed group in the Qandil mountains, Iraq on October 26, 2025. © Thaier Al-Sudan, Reuters

Türkiye's pro-Kurdish DEM party on Monday hailed the withdrawal of PKK fighters from Turkish soil as a "critical" step that completed the first phase of Ankara's peace process with the Kurdish militants.

The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has pursued four decades of violence against the government, began withdrawing its forces on Sunday, urging Türkiye to take the necessary legal steps to advance the process which began a year ago when Ankara offered an olive branch to its jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan, AFP reported.

"This decision to withdraw is the most concrete expression of (the PKK's) resolve on the path to peace," DEM co-chair Tuncer Bakirhan told reporters, describing it as "one of the most critical and significant steps".

"At this point, the first phase of the (peace) process has concluded," he said, urging the government to press ahead with the "critical and vital second phase ... (of) legal and political steps".

"Parliament must facilitate and develop this process. Legal arrangements must be made for the transition period. These will not only be technical arrangements, they will be the building blocks of peace," he said.

"A solution to the Kurdish issue means the democratisation of Türkiye, we all win."

Indirect talks with the PKK began late last year with the backing of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, with DEM, Türkiye's third-biggest party, playing a key role in facilitating the emerging agreement.

It has said it will meet with Erdogan on Thursday.

Türkiye has set up a parliamentary commission to lay the groundwork for the peace process and prepare a legal framework for the political integration of the PKK and its fighters.

A senior PKK leader said Sunday it was essential the commission "immediately" meet Ocalan, whose historic call in February led to his fighters decision in May to renounced the armed struggle, drawing a line under four decades of violence that had claimed some 50,000 lives.

It also urged Türkiye to take the necessary legal steps to regulate the fate of those who renounce the armed struggle.

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World

China Slams Countries That Criticized Taiwan Drills as 'Irresponsible'

A screen broadcasting news about military drills conducted by China around Taiwan is seen on a street in Beijing, China, 30 December 2025. (EPA)
A screen broadcasting news about military drills conducted by China around Taiwan is seen on a street in Beijing, China, 30 December 2025. (EPA)
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China Slams Countries That Criticized Taiwan Drills as 'Irresponsible'

A screen broadcasting news about military drills conducted by China around Taiwan is seen on a street in Beijing, China, 30 December 2025. (EPA)
A screen broadcasting news about military drills conducted by China around Taiwan is seen on a street in Beijing, China, 30 December 2025. (EPA)

Beijing slammed on Wednesday countries including Japan and Australia for their "irresponsible" criticism of China's military drills in waters around Taiwan.

China launched missiles and deployed dozens of fighter jets, navy ships and coastguard vessels around the island on Monday and Tuesday in live-fire drills.

There has been a chorus of international criticism of China's drills, including from Japan, Australia and European countries.

Japan said Wednesday that China's exercises "increase tensions" across the Taiwan Strait, while Australia's foreign ministry condemned the "destabilizing" military drills.

The European Union on Tuesday said the military activity "endangers international peace and stability".

Beijing on Wednesday hit back at the remarks.

"These countries and institutions are turning a blind eye to the separatist forces in Taiwan attempting to achieve independence through military means," foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian told reporters at a news briefing.

"Yet, they are making irresponsible criticisms of China's necessary and just actions to defend its national sovereignty and territorial integrity, distorting facts and confusing right and wrong, which is utterly hypocritical."

Lin said Beijing appreciated countries such as Russia, Pakistan and Venezuela expressing their support for China.

"We want to reiterate China's unwavering resolve for safeguarding national sovereignty, security and territorial integrity," he added.

"Any egregious provocative act that crosses the line on the Taiwan issue will be met with a firm counter from China."

World

Iran Appoints New Central Bank Governor After Record Currency Fall and Mass Protests

A person walks past a sign at a currency exchange, as the value of the Iranian rial drops, in Tehran, Iran, December 30, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
A person walks past a sign at a currency exchange, as the value of the Iranian rial drops, in Tehran, Iran, December 30, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
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Iran Appoints New Central Bank Governor After Record Currency Fall and Mass Protests

A person walks past a sign at a currency exchange, as the value of the Iranian rial drops, in Tehran, Iran, December 30, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
A person walks past a sign at a currency exchange, as the value of the Iranian rial drops, in Tehran, Iran, December 30, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters

Iran on Wednesday appointed a new governor to the central bank after the former one resigned following a record currency fall against the US dollar that sparked large protests.

The plummeting of the rial, Iran's currency, sparked the largest protests in the country in three years, with rallies that began Sunday and continued until Tuesday.

A report by the official IRNA news agency said President Masoud Pezeshkian’s Cabinet appointed Abdolnasser Hemmati, a former economics minister, as new governor of the Central Bank of Iran. He replaces Mohammad Reza Farzin, who resigned on Monday.

Experts say a 40% inflation rate led to public discontent. The US dollar traded at 1.38 million rials on Wednesday, compared to 430,000 when Farzin took office in 2022.

Many traders and shopkeepers closed their businesses and took to the streets of Tehran and other cities to protest.

The new governor's agenda will included a focus on controlling inflation and strengthening the currency, as well as addressing the mismanagement of banks, the government’s spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani wrote on X.

Hemmati, 68, previously served as minister of economic and financial affairs under Pezeshkian.

In March parliament dismissed Hemmati for alleged mismanagement and accusations his policies hurt the strength of Iran’s rial against hard currencies.

A combination of the currency's rapid depreciation and inflationary pressure has pushed up the prices of food and other daily necessities, adding to strain on household budgets already under pressure due to Western sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program.

Inflation is expected to worsen with a gasoline price change introduced in recent weeks.

Iran’s currency was trading at 32,000 rials to the dollar at the time of the 2015 nuclear accord that lifted international sanctions in exchange for tight controls on Iran’s nuclear program. That deal unraveled after President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the United States from it in 2018, during his first term.

World

Iran Prosecutor Pledges ‘Decisive’ Response if Protests Destabilize Country

Iranians walks past shops in Vali-Asr Square in the Iranian capital Tehran, on the last day of the year on December 31, 2025. (AFP)
Iranians walks past shops in Vali-Asr Square in the Iranian capital Tehran, on the last day of the year on December 31, 2025. (AFP)
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Iran Prosecutor Pledges ‘Decisive’ Response if Protests Destabilize Country

Iranians walks past shops in Vali-Asr Square in the Iranian capital Tehran, on the last day of the year on December 31, 2025. (AFP)
Iranians walks past shops in Vali-Asr Square in the Iranian capital Tehran, on the last day of the year on December 31, 2025. (AFP)

Iran's prosecutor general said on Wednesday that economic protests that had gripped the country were legitimate, but any attempt to create insecurity would be met with a "decisive response".

"Peaceful livelihood protests are part of social and understandable realities," Mohammad Movahedi-Azad told state media after three days of protests by shopkeepers in capital Tehran, which were joined by students across the country.

"Any attempt to turn economic protests into a tool of insecurity, destruction of public property, or implementation of externally designed scenarios will inevitably be met with a legal, proportionate and decisive response."

His comments came days after the Mossad intelligence agency of Iran's arch-foe Israel posted on social media that it was "with you on the ground" in a message to Iranian protesters.

Posting on its Persian-language X account, the spy agency encouraged Iranians to "go out into the streets together".

The spontaneous protests, driven by dissatisfaction at Iran's economic stagnation and galloping hyperinflation, began on Sunday in Tehran's largest mobile phone market where shopkeepers shuttered their businesses.

They have since built momentum, with students at 10 universities in the capital and in other cities, including Iran's most prestigious institutions, joining in on Tuesday.

Nevertheless, the protests remain limited in number and concentrated in central Tehran, with shops elsewhere in the sprawling metropolis of 10 million people unaffected.

Iran's economy has been in the doldrums for years, with heavy US and international sanctions over Tehran's nuclear program weighing heavily on it.

The currency, the rial, has also plunged in recent months, losing more than a third of its value against the US dollar since last year.

- Last-minute bank holiday -

The streets of Tehran were calm early on Wednesday, a change from the usual chaotic and choking traffic, with the authorities having announced a bank holiday with just a day's notice.

Schools, banks and public institutions have been closed with officials saying the directive was due to the cold weather and the need to save energy.

The capital's prestigious Beheshti and Allameh Tabataba'i universities announced that classes would be held online throughout next week for the same reason, the state-run IRNA news agency reported.

The authorities have not linked the bank holiday to the protests. Tehran is experiencing daytime temperatures in the low single digits, which is not unusual for the time of year.

Weekends in Iran begin on Thursdays, while this Saturday marks a long-standing national holiday.

Iran is no stranger to nationwide protests, but the latest demonstrations have not come close to the last major outbreak in 2022 triggered by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a young Iranian woman.

Her death in custody after being arrested for allegedly violating the strict dress code for women sparked a wave of anger across the country.

Several hundred people were killed, including dozens of members of the security forces.