By Ako Rasheed SULAYMANIYAH, Iraq (Reuters) -Thirty Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants burned their weapons at the mouth of a cave in northern Iraq on Friday, marking a symbolic but significant step toward ending a decades-long insurgency against Turkey.

The ceremony took place under tight security at a cave in Iraqi Kurdistan - the disarmament process is expected to last all summer.

A ceremony in northern Iraq on Friday saw a handful of Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants lay down their weapons, a small but hugely symbolic gesture that marks the beginning of an end to a conflict with the Turkish state that’s lasted nearly five decades and cost tens of thousands of lives.

SULAYMANIYAH, Iraq (Reuters) -Dozens of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants began handing over weapons in a ceremony in a cave in northern Iraq on Friday, officials said, marking a symbolic but significant step toward ending a decades-long insurgency against Turkey.

ANKARA, July 12 (Xinhua) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday declared "a new page" in history for Türkiye, as the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) begins the disarmament process.

The group of 30 members burned their weapons in a cauldron in Iraq. The group has been fighting with Turkey for 40 years.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced a hopeful shift as the PKK begins disarmament, signaling an end to decades of unrest. The decision follows urging by imprisoned leader Abdullah Ocalan.

After announcing they would disarm, the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) destroyed their weapons in northern Iraq.

A Kurdish politician and close friend to jailed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan on Friday said Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani has played a key role in negotiating peace between the PKK and Ankara.