The symbolic ceremony marks a turning point in the PKK's transformation process – from armed struggle to political struggle. It takes place two months after the guerrilla movement announced that they are ending their several decades-long and bloody struggle against the Turkish state.
In total, 30 PKK fighters, four of whom were commanders, burned their weapons during Friday's short ceremony near Sulaymaniyya, according to the AFP news agency's correspondent on the spot.
In a statement read out in a cave, the movement says it is a "historic, democratic measure".
Most of the PKK's fighters have spent the last decade in the mountains of northern Iraq, where Turkey has carried out repeated operations against the movement.
The Kurdish minority in Turkey hopes that the PKK's decision will pave the way for a political settlement with Ankara that means a new openness towards the Kurds, who make up around 20 percent of Turkey's 85 million inhabitants. This week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated that the peace talks with the Kurds will "gain momentum" when the PKK starts laying down their arms.
The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) was founded in 1978 as a Marxist party by Abdullah Öcalan, who has now been imprisoned in Turkey for over 25 years. The movement took up arms against the Turkish state in 1984, with the aim of achieving independence for the Kurds.
The conflict has cost over 40,000 human lives.
