Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday called for full support of the disarmament of Kurdish militants that began with a handover of the first batch of weapons by Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) forces,

The Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, held a symbolic ceremony on Friday in northern Iraq. It was the first concrete step toward a promised disarmament, as part of a peace process.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan claimed the disarmament of the Kurdish PKK militant group as a victory for his country after its members began laying down their weapons in a symbolic ceremony on Friday. View on

Turkey has continued its attacks on alleged Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) positions on Saturday, a day after the PKK symbolically destroyed weapons as part of peace negotiations with Ankara, according to a group monitoring the conflict.

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

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said the country had “turned . . . a new page in history” as Kurdish militants began to hand over their weapons in the latest step to end a four-decade insurgency that has claimed tens of thousands of lives.

The imprisoned leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party has renewed his call for fighters to disarm. Abdullah Ocalan emphasized in a video message on Wednesday the importance of abandoning armed conflict and embracing peace through politics.