Ceremonial burning of Kurdish PKK weapons is described as a historical step. The process of disarming in the Iraqi Kurdistan region is to continue until September.
Dozens of fighters of the Separatist Party of the Kurdish Workers (PKK) began on Friday in the Iraqi Kurdistan region of ceremonial to compose weapons as part of the peace process with Turkey. TASR informs about this on the basis of reports of Reuters, AP and AFP agencies.
PKK for decades led an armed uprising against the Turkish government. At the end of February, her imprisoned leader Abdullah Öcalan called for dissolution, which she announced along with the end of the fighting in May.
Ceremonial beginning of disarmament
The ceremonial composition of weapons takes place in the mountains about 60 kilometers from Sulajmania in the north of Iraq. The Iraqi State Press Agency informed Ina that “the disarmament process will take place gradually, the group of party members at the beginning symbolically fold their weapons”. The process is supposed to be completed by September.
AFP said the ceremonial ceremony takes place in the cave and, according to its rapporteur, “thirty PKK warriors, four of whom were commanders, burned their weapons”. The present representatives of the burning of weapons described as “a historical and democratic step that will hopefully bring peace and freedom”.
PKK in northern Iraq has long operated on bases that were sometimes attacked by Turkish troops. Last year, the government in Baghdad announced an official ban on separatist movements.
According to Reuters, after a series of unsuccessful peaceful efforts, the composition of weapons could make Turkey’s weapons open to the end of the uprising, during which more than 40,000 people were killed, burdening the economy and caused serious social and political contradictions in the region.
History of PKK and its activities
Originally Marxist PKK was founded in 1978 and since 1984 led the uprising in the southeast of Turkey. Originally, it tried to create a separate Kurdish state, and later limited the requirements to autonomy. Turkey and its Western allies, including the EU and the US, consider it a terrorist organization. In addition to Turkey and Iraq, it is also active in Syria.
