In a powerful symbol of change, dozens of PKK fighters gathered in a cave in northern Iraq on Friday.
They did what once seemed unthinkable—they laid down their arms.
With a crowd of observers watching, about 30 militants dropped their weapons into a large cauldron and set them ablaze.
“Of our own free will… we destroy our weapons,” they declared, pledging to fight instead through “democratic politics and legal means.”
What Will Be The Impact?
The moment wasn’t just symbolic—it could mark the beginning of the end to one of the Middle East’s longest-running insurgencies.
The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has fought the Turkish state for nearly five decades, has officially begun disarming.
This follows a call from its jailed founder Abdullah Ocalan.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan hailed it as a “step toward a terrorism-free Turkey.”
Iraq’s foreign ministry called it a “significant development.”
Will peace finally hold? Past efforts, like the 2013 ceasefire, crumbled fast.
But with the PKK shifting from armed struggle to political dialogue, there’s cautious hope this time is different.
Still, the road ahead is steep—especially with jailed Kurdish leaders and long-standing distrust on both sides.
As one observer put it, “Burning weapons is easy. Building trust takes longer.”
