The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) has begun to end its decades-long war against the Turkish government, the BBC reports. The PKK held a ceremony and took the first step with a symbolic act, the newspaper reports:

They built a bonfire of their weapons and burned them.

PKK fighters, both men and women, began the process of ending their fighting on Friday by lighting their weapons. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the ceremony was “an important step towards our goal of a terror-free Turkey.” The group is laying down its arms at the urging of its imprisoned leader, Abdullah Öcalan, who said “this is a voluntary transition from the phase of armed conflict to the phase of democratic politics and law.”

The surrender took place in front of the Yasana Cave, which was attended by the Iraqi and Turkish governments, in addition to PKK leaders. The latter and the PKK have been at war with each other since 1984. Initially, the Workers' Party's goal was to create an independent Kurdish state in the southeast of Turkey. However, they later abandoned this and demanded Kurdish autonomy in areas inhabited by the majority of Kurds. Now they are asking the Turkish government - in exchange for the surrender - to give the Kurds more self-determination rights.

The Kurdistan Workers' Party has dissolved

As we wrote, in May the Kurdistan Workers' Party held its congress in northern Iraq, and in its final statement announced its dissolution. More than 40,000 people died in the conflict that began in 1984, aiming to create an independent Kurdistan in southeastern Turkey, northern Syria, Iraq and Iran. At the same time, Turkey has declared the PKK a terrorist organization. The dissolution was proposed in February by Abdullah Öcalan, the organization's imprisoned leader.

The congress resolution stated that the Kurdistan Workers' Party would be dissolved and the armed struggle led by Öcalan would be ended. As a result, it was announced that its activities under the name of the PKK would be officially terminated. It was assessed that the party's struggle had"brought the Kurdish issue to a solution through democratic politics, thus completing its historical mission."

However, it is unclear what the PKK meant by the end of its historic mission. Earlier in 2025, the Kurdistan Workers' Party had declared a ceasefire to"pave the way for peace and a democratic society," but had set conditions for the establishment of a legal framework for peace talks.