ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) are set to begin handing over their weapons on Thursday, corresponding to July 10th, in the Kurdistan Region’s Sulaimani, with the symbolic first disarmament ceremony following a historic call in February for the militant group to self-dissolve by its imprisoned founder Abdullah Ocalan.

“From July 10 to 12, 25 to 30 PKK fighters in an area of Sulaimani, in a special ceremony, are set to gather weapons, military equipment, and electronic devices, as a sign of serious intention to make the peace process in Turkey,” MP Mehmet Kamac of Turkey's pro-Kurdish People’s Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) told The New Region.

The New Region understands that senior PKK Commander Mustafa Karasu will deliver a speech on the day of the ceremony, before the handover of weaponry begins in the presence of international media outlets, with Ocalan set to release a video statement a day before the event.

The disarmed PKK fighters will then be allowed return to their hideouts in the Qandil mountains. According to a statement from Turkish President Recep Tayip Erdogan, "All PKK military equipment will be destroyed and will not fall into the hands of any security forces."

The PKK announced the historic decision to disband following the militant group's 12th Congress in early May, which heeded Ocalan's call for disarmament and brought an end to a multi-decade armed campaign against the Turkish state.

In his message, Ocalan asserted that it was time for the Kurdish struggle to transition to a dialogue-based, democratic, and political arena.

Long designated a terrorist organization by Ankara and its Western allies, the PKK has been an armed group fighting for increased Kurdish rights in Turkey for decades, predominantly engaging in armed conflict with Turkish forces from the mountainous borders of the Kurdish Region in Iraq and Syria.