Kurdish militants want to return to Turkey and enter mainstream politics, one of the PKK's joint leaders told AFP on Friday after the group's fighters began destroying their arms at a ceremony in Iraq.

A group of 30 Kurdish fighters have ceremonially burned their weapons in northern Iraq, marking a major step toward ending a decades-long insurgency.

Turkey and Iraq welcomed the PKK's symbolic disarmament as a historic step toward peace. While Erdogan praised the move, Baghdad highlighted its potential for regional stability. The challenge now is transforming this gesture into lasting reconciliation.

Abdullah Ocalan, jailed leader of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group, appeared in a rare online video on Wednesday to declare the group's armed struggle against Turkey over and call for a full transition to democratic politics.

Turkey's pro-Kurdish DEM party on Friday hailed a "new era" following a historic disarmament ceremony at which PKK militants began destroying their weapons after ending decades of armed struggle.

The imprisoned leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party has renewed his call for fighters to disarm. Abdullah Ocalan emphasized in a video message on Wednesday the importance of abandoning armed conflict and embracing peace through politics.

The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in northern Iraq is expected to give up its weapons within a few months following its decision to dissolve.