Thirty PKK members, half of them women, publicly destroyed their guns on Friday in Iraq’s Sulaymaniyah province, the clearest sign yet that the outlawed group is moving to dismantle its four-decade armed campaign.
The fighters emerged from a cave in the Surdas sub-district before hurling rifles and grenades into a blazing cauldron, according to footage released by Türkiye’s state-run Anadolu Agency. A senior commander then read a joint statement in Turkish and Kurdish declaring the “end of armed struggle.”
Officials from Türkiye’s National Intelligence Organisation, Iraqi security services and the semi-autonomous Kurdish Regional Government witnessed the event, alongside members of Türkiye’s pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party and local NGOs.
Ankara says the gesture follows the PKK’s formal decision in May to dissolve its military wing, announced three months after jailed founder Abdullah Ocalan urged an unconditional ceasefire from his cell on İmralı island.
The conflict between the PKK and the Turkish state has killed more than 40,000 people since 1984, government figures show. The group, which operates from mountain bases in northern Iraq, is designated a terrorist organisation by Türkiye, the U.S. and the European Union.
While Friday’s ceremony marks the first verified surrender of weapons, analysts cautioned that splinter factions could resist the move. No timetable has been set for the handover of remaining fighters or for political talks with Ankara.
Tens of thousands of Italians took to the streets across the country on Friday, as part of a day-long general strike called by unions in support of an...
Sarah Mullally was named on Friday as the new Archbishop of Canterbury, becoming the first woman to head the Church of England in its 1,400-year histo...
Indonesia on Friday (3 October) urged the European Union to immediately remove the countervailing and anti-dumping duties on its stainless steel produ...
Ukraine's largest private energy company DTEK has suspended operations at several gas facilities in the eastern Poltava region after Russian attacks, ...
The 20 points that U.S. President Donald Trump announced as part of his Gaza plan this week were not in line with the draft proposed by a group of Mus...
Tens of thousands of Italians took to the streets across the country on Friday, as part of a day-long general strike called by unions in support of an aid flotilla carrying food to Gaza that was intercepted by Israel this week.
Sarah Mullally was named on Friday as the new Archbishop of Canterbury, becoming the first woman to head the Church of England in its 1,400-year history.
Ukraine's largest private energy company DTEK has suspended operations at several gas facilities in the eastern Poltava region after Russian attacks, the company said on Friday.
Armenia and Azerbaijan have agreed to reopen transport connections, including railways and roads, marking a rare step forward in efforts to normalise ties despite lingering disputes, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan said.
A day of mourning has been declared in Portugal to pay respect to victims who lost their lives in the Lisbon Funicular crash which happened on Wednesday evening.
Video from the USGS (United States Geological Survey) showed on Friday (19 September) the Kilauea volcano in Hawaii erupting and spewing lava.
At least eight people have died and more than 90 others were injured following a catastrophic gas tanker explosion on a major highway in Mexico City’s Iztapalapa district on Wednesday, authorities confirmed.
At least 69 people have died and almost 150 injured following a powerful 6.9-magnitude earthquake off the coast of Cebu City in the central Visayas region of the Philippines, officials said, making it one of the country’s deadliest disasters this year.
A powerful 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck off Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula on 13 September with no tsunami threat, coming just weeks after the region endured a devastating 8.8-magnitude quake — the strongest since 1952.
Tens of thousands of Italians took to the streets across the country on Friday, as part of a day-long general strike called by unions in support of an aid flotilla carrying food to Gaza that was intercepted by Israel this week.
Sarah Mullally was named on Friday as the new Archbishop of Canterbury, becoming the first woman to head the Church of England in its 1,400-year history.
Indonesia on Friday (3 October) urged the European Union to immediately remove the countervailing and anti-dumping duties on its stainless steel products, after a World Trade Organisation (WTO) panel backed the Southeast Asian country.
Ukraine's largest private energy company DTEK has suspended operations at several gas facilities in the eastern Poltava region after Russian attacks, the company said on Friday.
The 20 points that U.S. President Donald Trump announced as part of his Gaza plan this week were not in line with the draft proposed by a group of Muslim-majority countries, Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said on Friday.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment