ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters that there are plans on how Iraq and the Kurdistan Region’s governments can take part in the disarmament process of the PKK, adding that there are talks ongoing regarding affiliated groups outside of Turkey and the mechanisms of their disarmament, Turkish state media reported Saturday.

The Turkish president attended the 6th European Political Community Summit held in the Albanian capital of Tirana on Friday. Erdogan made statements and took questions from journalists upon returning mid-flight.

“There are plans regarding how the Baghdad and Erbil administrations will take part in this process,” the Turkish president said, adding that “negotiations are also being conducted with our neighbors” regarding the disarmament of groups that Turkey views as extensions of the PKK.

The PKK on Monday published the results of its recent seminal congress, announcing that the group has decided to dissolve and disband, ending an insurgency that spanned over four decades. The announcement came after a February call by the group's founder Abdullah Ocalan in which he urged the party to lay down arms and disband, arguing that it was time for the Kurdish struggle to be moved to a dialogue-based, democratic, and political arena, following months of negotiations with Turkish authorities.

“This step will also serve the peace, development, and stability of Iraq and Syria,” the Turkish president added.

Turkey considers the People’s Protection Units (YPG), the backbone of the pro-Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), who now control about a quarter of Syrian territory, to be inextricably linked to the PKK and thereby sees the SDF as an extension of their now-disbanded domestic foe.

Erdogan said on Wednesday during a speech in Ankara that “with the separatist organization's announcement that it has decided to disband and surrender its weapons, we have entered a new phase in our efforts to achieve a Turkey free of terrorism.” The Turkish premier echoed the same statement during the flight back to Ankara, while adding that the disarmament and dissolution process “is being monitored by our state's security units.”

The PKK was an armed group that up until its disbandment in May 2025 claimed to fight for increased Kurdish rights in Turkey, predominantly engaging in armed struggle with Turkish forces from the mountainous borders of the Kurdish Region, Iraq, and Syria.

The group had long been recognized as a terrorist organization by Ankara, the US, and the European Union. It was also declared a banned organization by Iraq in 2024.

The recent major developments across Turkey’s political scene serve as a fresh breath of air to millions in Turkey and beyond—Turks and Kurds alike—who have endured decades upon decades of a bloody conflict that has claimed tens of thousands of lives.