The symbolic gesture is the first phase of disarming the PKK as part of a rejuvenated peace process with Turkiye, which could end a 40-year conflict that has killed some 40,000 people. As the process unfolds, a question arises about how this may affect the broader region, including the autonomous Kurdish areas in Iraq and Syria.

Fighters with a Kurdish separatist militant group that has waged a decades-long insurgency in Turkey have begun laying down their weapons in a symbolic ceremony Friday in northern Iraq, the first concrete step toward a promised disarmament as part of

The Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, announced in May that it would disband and renounce armed conflict, ending four decades of hostilities.

The decision by the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) to lay down its arms and apparently disband has reverberated across the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq.

IRBIL, Iraq (AP) — A Kurdish militant group that has waged a long-running insurgency in Turkey announced Thursday its fighters in northern Iraq will begin handing over their weapons, marking the first concrete step toward disarmament as part of a peace process.