PKK militants in Iraq begin laying down arms as part of peace process with Turkey

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PKK militants in Iraq begin laying down arms as part of peace process with Turkey  The PKK's original aim was to establish a Kurdish state in the southeast of Turkey, but over time its goals evolved into a campaign for greater autonomy for Turkey's Kurdish population.   READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2025/07/11/pkk-militants-in-iraq-begin-laying-down-arms-as-part-of-peace-process-with-turkey  Subscribe to our channel. Euronews is available on Dailymotion in 12 languages

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00:00Fighters with a Kurdish separatist militant group that has waged a decades-long insurgency in Turkey

00:07began laying down their weapons in a symbolic ceremony on Friday.

00:11The ceremony took place in the mountains outside the city of Suleymaniyah

00:15in northern Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region.

00:18An Iraqi state-run news agency reported that the process will take place in multiple stages,

00:24starting with the symbolic ceremony and eventually leading to a full regional disarmament.

00:30Earlier, the Kurdistan Workers' Party, known as the PKK,

00:33announced it would disband and renounce armed conflicts, ending four decades of hostilities.

00:39PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan, who's been imprisoned on an island near Istanbul since 1999,

00:44urged his group in February to convene a congress and formally disband and disarm.

00:50The jailed leader renewed his call in a video message broadcast on Wednesday where he said,

00:55I believe in the power of politics and social peace, not weapons.

01:00Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hailed the group's steps towards peace

01:03and expressed hope it will bring stability to a region battered by conflict.

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