During a symbolic ceremony on Friday, thirty fighters from the Kurdish separatist group destroyed their weapons, marking a major step toward ending the group’s decades-long conflict with Turkey.

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.

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.

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.