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.
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Saudi civil defence sent an all-clear on Saturday after issuing alerts for a second time for potential danger in Riyadh and the city of Al-Kharj east of the capital, amid an uptick in attacks by Iran-aligned Houthis on the Gulf country.
Houthi attacks target Riyadh amid concerns over Saudi oil supplies, as Iran says it will not reopen the Strait of Hormuz until its conditions are met and U.S. commitments are implemented, parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said on Sunday.
The U.S. State Department approved a $2.7 billion military sale to Ukraine for air-defence development upgrades, along with related equipment and services, the department said. Meanwhile, Ukrainian authorities reported at least 10 people had died in Russian attacks over the last 24 hours.
The death toll from an overnight Russian attack on the Kyiv region rose to four, including three children, Kyiv regional authorities said on Sunday. A mother and her two 3-year-old children were killed when a Russian drone strike hit a private home, the emergency service said.
Russian authorities have reported attacks on voting systems and communication lines as the country’s parliamentary election entered its second day on Saturday (19 September).
The Left Party won Sunday's Berlin state election with 25.5 per cent of the vote in the preliminary result, ahead of the Christian Democrats (CDU) on 19.1 per cent. This marks a major shift in the city's political landscape and a setback for Chancellor Friedrich Merz's ruling coalition.
A group of French nationals, suspected of belonging to the Islamic State (IS), on trial in Iraq could face execution, a member of Iraq’s Supreme Judicial Council told a hearing in Baghdad on Sunday.
Overnight Russian strikes on the city of Sumy, northeast Ukraine, have killed one woman and injured a man, the country's State Emergency Service has said.
The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has prepared sanctions targeting the entire International Criminal Court (ICC) and could announce them soon, escalating Washington's efforts to pressure the global tribunal.
French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney pledged closer ties on Sunday as they sought to strengthen cooperation on geopolitical tensions, climate change, energy and the protection of democratic values.
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