A ceremony in northern Iraq on Friday saw a handful of Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants lay down their weapons, a small but hugely symbolic gesture that marks the beginning of an end to a conflict with the Turkish state that’s lasted nearly five decades and cost tens of thousands of lives.

Fighters with a Kurdish separatist militant group that has waged a decades-long insurgency in Turkey have begun laying down their weapons.

The Kurdish guerrilla group held a symbolic ceremony in which a portion of their weapons was set on fire, marking the start of their disarmament process. This

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday that a new page opened for Turkey following the start of a weapons handover by Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants. Thirty PKK militants burned their weapons at the mouth of a cave in northern Iraq on Friday,

Turkey must push through legal reforms to allow PKK militants to return home without fear of being jailed or killed, a top commander told AFP after the Kurdish militant group began disarming Friday.

Bahçeli also commended the DEM Party for maintaining what he described as a responsible political stance. Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli, who initiated the current peace process in October, has issued a written statement welcoming the PKK’s disarmament move earlier today.

The imprisoned leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party has renewed his call for fighters to disarm. Abdullah Ocalan emphasized in a video message on Wednesday the importance of abandoning armed conflict and embracing peace through politics.

The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in northern Iraq is expected to give up its weapons within a few months following its decision to dissolve.