PKK fighters burn weapons in landmark disarmament ceremony
A group of 30 Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) fighters ceremonially threw their weapons into a fire on Friday, as a large gathering of Turkish, Kurdish and international journalists, politicians, and observers looked on during an event held in the town of Dukan in Iraqi Kurdistan.
The group, comprising 15 men and 15 women, calls itself the Group for Peace and Democratic Society.
"We are now here to respond to the call of the Kurdish people's leader, Abdullah Ocalan, made on 19 June 2025. Our coming here is, at the same time, based on the call leader Abdullah Ocalan earlier made on 27 February 2025, and on the resolutions of PKK's 12th Congress, which convened on 5-7 May 2025," said senior PKK figure Bese Hozat, as she read a statement in Turkish announcing the group's decision to disarm.
"We voluntarily destroy our weapons, in your presence, as a step of goodwill and determination… We wish it will bring about peace and freedom, and will have auspicious outcomes for our people, the peoples of Turkey and the Middle East."
Representatives from the Iraqi government, Turkey's pro-Kurdish Peoples' Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party and the Kurdish government were present at the ceremony.
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Shukurallah Mohammed Amin, a member of the Kurdistan National Congress (KNK), told Middle East Eye that Kurds have long been denied their cultural and national rights in the countries they are divided among: Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Turkey.
"In Turkey, the constitution still does not recognise the Kurdish identity. There has been no opportunity for Kurds, so they had no choice but to fight. This resistance had its own goals. But after 100 years of denying Kurdish identity and existence, today the Turkish state is talking about a peace process," Amin said.
"If Turkey grants rights peacefully, Kurds will welcome this step… Today, they are ready to lay down their weapons and hand them over. In my opinion, Turkey has reached a point where it cannot defeat the PKK or the Kurds militarily. It has been tried many times before."
Over the decades, various governments - including that of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan - have attempted to resolve the issue through legal settlements, but these efforts were unsuccessful, and tens of thousands of lives were lost.
Since 2016, Ankara has managed to corner the PKK in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq by deploying advanced technologies such as drones and signal intelligence, as well as establishing dozens of military outposts that restrict the group's freedom of movement and infiltration across the border.
As a result, the PKK has largely been denied operational freedom, making it extremely difficult for the group to carry out attacks inside Turkey.
'We welcome the step'
Fathers and mothers of PKK fighters also travelled to Sulaymaniyah to witness the ceremony.
Rashid Benzer, a politician from the DEM Party, came especially from the Kurdish-majority province of Sirnak in Turkey to observe this step.
"We hope this new year that the Kurdish people live in freedom and peace, and that our leader and our friends will be released from prison," he said, referring to the thousands of Kurdish politicians - including former People's Democratic Party (HDP) co-chairman Selahattin Demirtas - who were imprisoned after the collapse of the previous peace process in July 2015.
However, Benzer added that Kurds do not trust the Turkish state, but do place their trust in the PKK leadership.
"Since 2000, the PKK has declared 12 ceasefires, but unfortunately, none have succeeded. We also thank the Kurdistan Region and our Peshmerga friends for their support," he said.
The leadership of the ruling Iraqi Kurdish parties - the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) - have expressed strong support for the disarmament process. The ceremony was held in Sulaymaniyah, a PUK-controlled area guarded by its security forces.
"We welcome the step taken today by the PKK to disarm," Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani, a senior KDP figure, said in a statement. "We are confident that this development will elevate the process to a new phase and be followed by additional practical measures that will move it forward in a positive direction."
"My son, Haji, codenamed Zinar Amare, was martyred in the Avasin-Zap area. I never got to see his grave. I hope that in the near future I can. It would make me happy."
'An irreversible turning point'
The ceremony marks a significant step in a broader five-stage roadmap towards sustainable peace.
The process began with a political initiative led by Turkey's ruling coalition, the People’s Alliance, which issued a historic call for peace and opened the door to national consensus on ending decades of armed conflict. It was followed by a public message from PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan, urging the group to lay down its arms.
'The laying down of arms by PKK militants marks a concrete and welcome step towards ending the group’s decades-long campaign of violence'
- Turkish official
The current phase - disbandment and decommissioning - entails the supervised and irreversible dismantling of the PKK’s armed structures, symbolised by the fighters’ ceremonial burning of weapons.
The next stages will focus on legal reintegration, with mechanisms designed to enable lawful return and ensure justice and accountability, followed by socio-psychological integration, aimed at supporting reconciliation, community healing, and the long-term reintegration of former fighters into society.
Turkish President Erdogan said on Friday that he hopes the beginning of the weapons handover will lead to national security and lasting peace in the region.
"I hope the important step taken today on our path to a terror-free Turkey will bring positive results," the state-run Anadolu Agency quoted him as saying.
A senior Turkish official told MEE: "The laying down of arms by PKK militants in Sulaymaniyah - a milestone of the third stage of the ongoing disarmament and decommissioning process - marks a concrete and welcome step towards ending the group’s decades-long campaign of violence.
"We view this development as an irreversible turning point - an opportunity to protect innocent lives and build a future free from terror. Turkiye remains committed to supporting all efforts that prioritise disarmament, stability, and lasting reconciliation in the region."
Devlet Bahceli, a senior nationalist member of Turkey's ruling coalition and an Erdogan ally, welcomed the step, according to Bianet.
"As clearly seen in their most recent video message, the founding leadership of the PKK has kept its word, stood by its commitment, and accurately recognised both global and regional threats in due time," said Bahceli, who initiated the new peace process in October.
'May people be happy and free'
Azad, a 35-year-old Kurdish refugee who lives in Iraq's Kurdistan Region, hopes that he can return to his home in Turkey.
"We want a free country and to return to our lives. We will be very happy if there is peace. Hopefully, there will be peace, and hopefully, mothers won’t cry anymore. Enough of these 50 years of killing. We want brotherhood, and we Kurds will be very happy if there is a solution," Azad told MEE.
"One of my sons is a martyr, and one of my young daughters joined the PKK. We hope everyone will be released from jail and return to their own fathers and mothers. We want freedom. That is what we want."
Mehmet, whose son is a local commander in the PKK, travelled from Turkey especially for the ceremony.
Speaking to MEE and using a fake name for security reasons, Mehmet said: "May there be peace, no more bloodshed, no more wars, no more deaths. May people be happy and free, may democracy come to our country, and may the economy improve.
"So much blood has been shed. We have lost many of our people... The war has lasted for 40 years. That's why the arrival of peace makes all of us happy.
"Here, they are destroying their weapons... This is the first step. We are expecting a process that will lead to peace."
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