PKK decides in May to disband, disarm, end its separatist struggle after public call from its leader Abdullah Ocalan
\n Baghdad
\nThirty Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants 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 Turkey.
\nFootage 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.
\nThe 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 its long-imprisoned leader Abdullah Ocalan.
\nAfter 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 Turkey and the wider region.
\nPresident Tayyip Erdogan said he hoped the PKK\u2019s dissolution would bolster Turkish security and regional stability. \u201cMay 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,\u201d he said on X.
\nFriday\u2019s ceremony was held at the entrance of the Jasana cave in the town of Dukan, 60 km [37 miles] northwest of Sulaymaniyah in the Kurdistan region of Iraq\u2019s north.
\nThe 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\u2019s decision to disarm.
\n\u201cWe voluntarily destroy our weapons, in your presence, as a step of goodwill and determination,\u201d she said, before another commander read the same statement in Kurdish.
\nHelicopters hovered overhead, with dozens of Iraqi Kurdish security forces surrounding the mountainous area, a Reuters witness said.
\nThe ceremony was attended by Turkish and Iraqi intelligence figures, officials of Iraq\u2019s Kurdistan regional government and senior members of Turkey\u2019s pro-Kurdish DEM party \u2014 which also played a key role this year facilitating the PKK\u2019s disarmament decision.
\nIt was unclear when further handovers would take place.
\nA senior Turkish official said the arms handover marked an \u201cirreversible turning point\u201d in the peace process, while another government source said ensuing steps would include the legal reintegration of PKK members into society in Turkey and efforts to heal communities and promote reconciliation.
\nWider significance
\nThe PKK has been based in northern Iraq after being pushed well beyond Turkey\u2019s southeastern frontier in recent years. Turkey\u2019s military carries out regular strikes on PKK bases in the region and established several military outposts there.
\nThe end of NATO member Turkey\u2019s conflict with the PKK could have consequences across the region, including in neighbouring Syria where the United States is allied with Syrian Kurdish forces that Ankara deems a PKK offshoot.
\nWashington and Ankara want those Kurds to quickly integrate with Syria\u2019s security structure, which has been undergoing reconfiguration since the fall in December of autocratic President Bashar al-Assad. PKK disarmament could add to this pressure, analysts say.
\nThe PKK, DEM and Ocalan have all called on Erdogan\u2019s government to address Kurdish demands for more rights in regions where Kurds form a majority, particularly Turkey\u2019s southeast where the insurgency was concentrated.
\nIn a rare online video published on Wednesday, Ocalan \u2014 whose large image was shown at the weapons ceremony \u2014 also urged Turkey\u2019s parliament to set up a commission to oversee disarmament and manage the broader peace process.
\nAnkara has taken steps toward forming the commission, while the DEM and Ocalan have said that legal assurances and certain mechanisms were needed to smooth the PKK\u2019s transition into democratic politics.
\nOmer Celik, spokesman for Erdogan\u2019s AK Party, said the ceremony marked a first step toward full disarmament and a \u201cterror-free Turkey\u201d, adding this must be completed \u201cin a short time\u201d.
\nErdogan has said the disarmament will enable the rebuilding of Turkey\u2019s southeast.
\nTurkey spent nearly $1.8 trillion over the past five decades combating terrorism, Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek has said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
PKK decides in May to disband, disarm, end its separatist struggle after public call from its leader Abdullah Ocalan Baghdad Thirty Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants 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 Turkey. Footage from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":489743,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-489726","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n