Kurdish PKK Militants Begin Disarmament In Iraq In Historic Step Towards Peace With Turkey

Last Updated:July 11, 2025, 16:42 IST

Dozens of PKK militants disarmed in a cave in northern Iraq, marking a historic step toward ending a four-decade insurgency against Turkey.

The disarmament ceremony was held inside the Jasana cave near the town of Dukan.

Dozens of militants from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) began handing over their weapons in a remote cave in northern Iraq, signaling the first concrete steps toward ending a four-decade insurgency against Turkey that has killed tens of thousands. The disarmament ceremony, held inside the Jasana cave near the town of Dukan, about 60 kilometers northwest of Sulaymaniyah in Iraq’s Kurdistan region, unfolded under heavy security.

Turkish broadcasters aired live coverage from nearby Sulaymaniyah- showing the mountainous terrain and the crowds that had gathered to witness what many are calling a historic turning point.

A Long Road To Disarmament: What Is The PKK?

The PKK, which has fought a bitter armed struggle against the Turkish state since 1984 and is outlawed in Turkey, United States and European Union as a terrorist organization, announced in May 2025 that it would disband, disarm and end its separatist ambitions. The move came after a public appeal from its long-imprisoned founder and ideological leader, Abdullah Ocalan, who remains incarcerated on Turkey’s İmralı Island.  After multiple failed peace initiatives over the years, this latest push is seen by many observers as the most serious effort yet to resolve one of the Middle East’s most intractable conflicts.

According to officials familiar with the process, the weapons handed over will be publicly destroyed in a separate ceremony, attended by representatives of Turkish and Iraqi intelligence services, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and senior members of Turkey’s pro-Kurdish DEM party, which played a critical role in brokering the PKK’s decision.

Turkey’s ruling AK Party, led by Recep Tayyip Erdogan, welcomed the development, saying that the process must remain on a short timeline to avoid external manipulation or delay.

Erdogan himself pledged to use the end of armed conflict to rebuild Turkey’s southeast, where the Kurdish population is concentrated and where the insurgency has been most deeply felt. Turkey’s Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek revealed that Turkey has spent nearly $1.8 trillion over five decades on combating terrorism.

PKK’s Disarmament And Regional Ripples

The ramifications of the PKK’s disarmament could extend well beyond Turkey’s borders. In Syria, where the US supports Kurdish-led forces seen by Ankara as PKK affiliates, the move may increase pressure to integrate Syrian Kurdish groups into a restructured national security framework, especially after the collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in late 2024.

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