BAGHDAD — A group of 30 PKK terrorists, including 15 women, laid down their weapons and destroyed them in a symbolic disarmament ceremony on Friday in the Surdas sub-district of Iraq’s Sulaymaniyah province, marking a potential turning point in the group’s decades-long armed campaign.

The militants emerged from a cave where they had been based and proceeded to a designated disarmament site, where they tossed their weapons into a large burning cauldron.

A senior PKK figure read a statement in both Turkish and Kurdish during the event.

The disarmament was witnessed by officials from Türkiye’s National Intelligence Organization, representatives from the Iraqi government and the Kurdish Regional Government, security forces, members of Türkiye’s Peoples' Democratic Party, civil society organizations, and media personnel.

The move comes after a May announcement that the PKK would dissolve and end its armed activities. That declaration followed a February statement from jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan, who called for the group and its affiliates to disband and halt their armed struggle, which began in the late 1970s.

The PKK, which is designated a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the United States, and the European Union, has waged an armed insurgency against the Turkish state for over 40 years, leading to the deaths of more than 40,000 people, including civilians.

The group has long used the mountainous regions of northern Iraq, near the Turkish border, as a safe haven to regroup and launch attacks into Türkiye. — Agencies