Urrutikoetxea joined the
ETA in 1968, at the age of 18, and was in charge of operations in the
Biscay region until fleeing to France in May 1971 Urrutikoetxea left ETA in 2006
. In 2013, along with
David Pla Marín and
Iratxe Sorzabal, he met Spanish government representatives in Norway. In 2018 Urrutikoetxea was involved in the disarmament and dissolution of ETA. with the president of the 16th Anti-Terrorism Criminal Chamber of Paris stating "there is neither material evidence nor evidence of motive to prove the crime of participating in a criminal association with the intention of planning acts of terrorism." Urrutikoetxea has been a member of the
Basque Parliament in
Vizcaya on the lists of
Euskal Herritarrok and has been a member of the Commission of Human Rights. ==Society and culture==