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BARWARI BALA, Kurdistan Region - Months of halted hostilities between the Turkish army and the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in parts of Duhok province have allowed villagers to rebuild their homes and develop their communities.
"The reconstruction of the area has continued since the conflict ceased. Work is underway," a resident of Maye village in Duhok's Barwari Bala area told Rudaw.
PKK announced a unilateral ceasefire earlier this year and later, responding to a call from its jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan, it decided to dissolve itself and lay down arms. Some members of the group burned their weapons in a symbolic ceremony in Sulaimani.
A parliamentary commission has been formed in the Turkish parliament to set a legal path for the process.
Decades of conflict between the PKK and Ankara had discouraged villagers from developing their villages.
Villagers must now wait their turn until the construction workers are available to work for them.
The remnants of the devastating war are still visible in some villages.
"People have started working in their fields since the artillery was removed. There is reconstruction. Previously, bombs would hit here. A hut was targeted and no one dared visit their properties or farm. Thankfully, now there is stability and there is no bombardment. People are reconstructing," Ibrahim Kamil, a construction worker, told Rudaw.
Ongoing peace talks between Ankara and the PKK aim to end a conflict that has claimed over 40,000 lives.
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