PKK begins Laying Down Arms in Landmark Ceremony

Friday's ceremony was to take place during the morning at an undisclosed location in the mountains of northern Iraq - where most of the PKK's fighters have been holed up for the past decade - near the northeastern city of Sulaimaniyah.

Among those expected to attend the ceremony were several Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) lawmakers, who arrived in Sulaimaniyah on Thursday, and a handful of journalists.

It was not clear whether the ceremony would be broadcast live.

According to security sources, the process will be coordinated by Turkish and Iraqi authorities. Several reports said the collected arms are likely to be registered before being destroyed by burning or burial, as part of the government's "terror-free Turkey" initiative.

Meanwhile, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is expected to deliver a "historic" address on July 12, ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) spokesman Ömer Çelik said.

"I invite all our citizens to listen to the speech our president will deliver on Saturday morning," he said on July 9 in televised remarks on private broadcaster NTV.

The disarmament process comes amid a series of meetings facilitated by the DEM Party, which has reestablished contact with jailed PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan through multiple visits to the İmralı prison island off Istanbul.

DEM Party MPs Pervin Buldan and Mithat Sancar met with Öcalan on July 6 and later held a closed-door meeting with Erdoğan on July 7. Intelligence chief İbrahim Kalın and AKP vice-chair Efkan Ala were also in attendance.

Erdoğan later described the meeting as "constructive and sincere."

“We are saving Turkey from a half-century-long terror problem. We are totally breaking from these bloody shackles," he said on July 9 during a parliamentary speech. "Everything will be much different after the collapse of the terror wall."

The DEM Party delegation is scheduled to continue its outreach by meeting with Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli and main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Özgür Özel.

Bahçeli, a key Erdoğan ally, has emerged as a key supporter of the initiative since proposing last year that Öcalan could address parliament if he publicly denounced terrorism.

The disarmament will follow Kalın’s recent diplomatic efforts, including visits to Erbil and Baghdad.

Upon returning, Kalın met with Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş to discuss the planned establishment of a parliamentary commission to oversee and coordinate the peace process

PKK is listed a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.

Iraq designated it a "banned organization" in March 2024. Turkey and Iraq have since deepened security cooperation, signing a memorandum of understanding in August 2024 that includes plans to establish a joint coordination center in Baghdad and convert a Turkish base into a training facility under Iraqi command.

Source: HDN