ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - A group of 30 Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) fighters who laid down and then burned their weapons in a ceremony at Jasana Cave in Sulaimani province described the move as “historic” and “democratic,” while explaining they destroyed their weapons of their own “free will.”

In a historical ceremony, 30 PKK fighters, including four commanders, destroyed and burned their weapons near Jasana Cave, in Sulaimani province’s Dukan district on Friday, nearly five months after the group’s jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan, in a historic call, asked his party to dissolve and disarm

"Our presence is based on the February 27, 2025, call for peace and a democratic society by Leader Abdullah Ocalan and the decisions of the 12th PKK Congress held on May 5-7. As a goodwill gesture… we are destroying our weapons of our own free will,” the group said in a statement read out in the cave.

The destroyed weapons were of three types: klashinkov rifle, PK machine guns, and snipers.

“We hope it will bring about peace and freedom,” the group consisting of 15 women and 15 men said. "We hope that this step will bring good and happiness for our people, especially women and youth, the people of Turkey, the Middle East, and all humanity."

The fighters said that "the Middle East has become a bloodbath, and our people need peace, freedom, equality, and democracy now more than ever," while adding they "understand how urgent this historic step is."

Omer Celik, spokesperson of Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), on Friday welcomed the PKK move. 

"A critical threshold has been crossed for achieving the goal of a terror-free Turkey," state media Anadolu Agency quoted Celik as saying. 

The ceremony took place at Jasana cave near Surdash, on the Sulaimani-Dukan road.

Jasana is a village located in the Surdash subdistrict. It is 50 kilometers from Sulaimani city center. The Jasana cave is located at the foot of the Nabi Agha heights, in the Sara mountain range. 

The PKK announced its historic decision to disband following its 12th Congress in early May, which responded to Ocalan's call for disarmament and ended a multi-decade armed campaign against the Turkish state.

A large number of representatives of the Iraqi, Kurdistan Region governments, political parties, including Turkey’s pro-Kurdish DEM Party, and journalists from local and internal media witnessed the arms destruction. 

Updated at 2:16 pm with a comment from AKP spokesperson