PKK disarmament opens ‘new page in history’ for Turkiye, Erdogan says

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

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said the state has begun a caller epoch arsenic the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) began to disarm aft a four-decade equipped struggle that killed much than 40,000 people.

In an code to his party, Justice and Development (AKP), Erdogan said connected Saturday that the “scourge of coercion has entered the process of ending”.

“Decades of sorrow, tears and distress came to an end. Turkiye turned that leafage arsenic of yesterday,” Erdogan said.

“Today is simply a caller day; a caller leafage has opened successful history. Today, the doors of a great, almighty Turkiye person been flung wide open,” the president added.

In a cave successful bluish Iraq connected Friday, 30 PKK members burned their weapons, marking a hugely symbolic measurement towards ending their equipped run against Turkiye.

During Friday’s ceremony, elder PKK fig Bese Hozat work retired a connection astatine the Jasana cave successful the municipality of Dukan, 60 km (37 miles) northwest of Sulaymaniyah successful the Kurdish of Iraq’s north, announcing the group’s determination to disarm.

“We voluntarily destruct our weapons, successful your presence, arsenic a measurement of goodwill and determination,” she said.

Since 1984, the PKK has been locked successful equipped struggle with the Turkish authorities and decided successful May to disarm and disband aft a nationalist telephone from the group’s long-imprisoned leader, Abdullah Ocalan.

Ocalan said successful a video earlier this week, which was recorded successful June by the groups affiliated with Firat News Agency, that the determination to disarm was a “ voluntary modulation from the signifier of equipped struggle to the signifier of antiauthoritarian authorities and law” calling it a “historic gain”.

Further disarmament is expected to instrumentality spot astatine a designated locations, which involves the coordination betwixt Turkiye, Iraq and the Kurdish determination authorities successful Iraq.

Source:

Al Jazeera and quality agencies