SULAYMANIYAH: Thirty fighters belonging to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) burned their weapons at the mouth of a cave in northern Iraq on Friday, marking a symbolic but significant step toward ending a decades-long insurgency against Turkiye.

Footage from the ceremony showed the fighters, half of them women, queuing to place AK-47 assault rifles, bandoliers and other guns into a large grey cauldron. Flames later engulfed the black gun shafts pointed to the sky, as Kurdish, Iraqi and Turkish officials watched nearby.

The PKK, locked in conflict with the Turkish state and outlawed since 1984, decided in May to disband, disarm and end its separatist struggle after a public call to do so from Abdullah Ocalan, its long-imprisoned leader.

After a series of failed peace efforts, the new initiative could pave the way for Ankara to end an insurgency that has killed over 40,000 people, burdened the economy and wrought deep social and political divisions in Turkiye and the wider region.

In May, PKK decided to end 40 years of armed struggle against Turkiye after an appeal by its jailed leader, Abdullah Ocalan

President Tayyip Erdogan said he hoped the PKK’s dissolution would bolster Turkish security and regional stability. “May God grant us success in achieving our goals on this path we walk for the security of our country, the peace of our nation, and the establishment of lasting peace in our region,” he said on X.

Friday’s ceremony was held at the entrance of the Jasana cave in the town of Dukan, 60 kilometres northwest of Sulaymaniyah in the Kurdistan region of Iraq’s north.

The fighters, in beige military fatigues, were flanked by four commanders, including senior PKK figure Bese Hozat, who read a statement in Turkish declaring the group’s decision to disarm.

“We voluntarily destroy our weapons, in your presence, as a step of goodwill and determination,” she said, before another commander read the same statement in Kurdish.

Helicopters hovered overhead, with Iraqi Kurdish fighters surrounding the mountainous area.

The ceremony was attended by Turkish and Iraqi intelligence figures, officials of Iraq’s Kurdistan regional government and senior members of Turkiye’s pro-Kurdish DEM party, which also played a key role this year facilitating the PKK’s disarmament decision.

It was unclear when further handovers would take place.

A senior Turkish official said the arms handover marked an “irreversible turning point” in the peace process, while another government source said ensuing steps would include the legal reintegration of PKK members into society in Turkiye and efforts to heal communities and promote reconciliation.

Published in Dawn, July 12th, 2025