PKK fighters begin handing over weapons at ceremony – DW – 07/11/2025

Fighters from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) on Friday began laying down their weapons at a ceremony near Sulaymaniyah in Iraqi Kurdistan.

The disarmament ceremony comes after 40 years of armed insurgency against Turkey and involved 30 PKK fighters, who symbolically destroyed their weapons, an AFP correspondent reported.

“Thirty PKK fighters, four of whom were commanders, burned their weapons,” the correspondent said.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hailed the ceremony as an “important step” on the path to a “terror-free Turkey”, expressing hope it would lead to “the establishment of lasting peace in our region”. 

Why is the PKK disbanding?

“In order to ensure the practical success of the ‘peace and democratic society’ process… we voluntarily destroy our weapons as a step of goodwill and determination,” read a PKK statement. “We wish that this step will bring about peace and freedom.”

The PKK announced in May it would disband and renounce armed conflict after leader Abdullah Ocalan — who has been imprisoned near Istanbul since 1999 — urged his group in February to convene a congress and formally disband and disarm.

“I believe in the power of politics and social peace, not weapons. And I urge you to put this principle into practice,” Ocalan said this week, pledging the disarmament process would be “implemented swiftly.”

Ocalan also urged Turkey’s parliament to set up a commission to oversee disarmament and manage the peace process.

There have been calls for President Erdogan’s government to address Kurdish demands for more rights in regions where Kurds form a majority

What is the PKK?

Kurds are an ethnic group of at least 30 million people who were split between Turkey, Iraq, Syria and Iran when Western allies redrew borders following the end of World War I.

The PKK was founded in 1978 with the stated goal of achieving an independent Kurdish state. However, in the 1990s they changed course, seeking only autonomy within Turkey.

Armed clashes with Turkish security over the decades, as well as attacks on civilians, led to the group being labeled a terrorist organization by Ankara, as well as the United States and the European Union. 

In turn, the Turkish government has been accused of destroying Kurdish villages and towns and forcing the displacement of civilians in an effort to root out the group.

Some 40,000 people have been killed in the 40 years of conflict.

Edited by: Alex Berry