Overview

• Thirty PKK fighters, including four commanders, burned their weapons at the entrance of the Jasana cave near Sulaymaniyah to launch the ceremonial disarmament process.
• The ceremony took place under the supervision of Turkish and Iraqi intelligence services alongside Kurdistan Regional Government officials and representatives from the pro-Kurdish DEM party.
• The disarmament represents the first tangible implementation of the PKK’s May announcement that it would dissolve and renounce armed struggle following Abdullah Öcalan’s February appeal.
• The multi-stage process of destroying and handing over arms is expected to continue through September under strict verification by intelligence and regional authorities.
• The move aims to integrate former PKK fighters into democratic politics and to reshape security dynamics across Turkey, northern Iraq and Kurdish border areas after four decades of conflict that claimed over 40,000 lives.