Sources in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region have confirmed that several members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) have begun surrendering their weapons, six weeks after the group announced it would dissolve itself and disarm, responding to a call by its imprisoned leader, Abdullah Ocalan.
Meanwhile, Türkiye’s pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party said it had no information confirming the reports that the PKK planned to hand over its weapons in early July.
Sezai Temelli, the party’s deputy parliamentary leader, said in Ankara: “We have no such information. It seems this development is more likely to happen next week.”
Temelli stressed that the issue should not be limited to simply laying down arms and that legal and democratic steps must be prioritized to achieve a lasting settlement.
Temelli was commenting on a report by Rudaw TV, which said 20-30 PKK fighters would formally surrender their weapons in a ceremony in Sulaymaniyah between July 3 and 10. According to Rudaw’s sources, this would serve as a “confidence-building measure” to advance reconciliation with Türkiye.
One source clarified that the fighters would return unarmed to their bases and denied claims they would be held in specific cities in Iraqi Kurdistan.
The Turkish government has announced it will monitor the process closely. The Ministry of Defense said Türkiye’s agencies and intelligence are coordinating with neighboring countries, and Ankara will not consider the process complete until intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin submits a report to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan confirming full compliance.
Tensions have long persisted between Türkiye and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, led by Bafel Talabani, whom Ankara accuses of supporting the PKK during last year’s Kurdish elections. Türkiye responded with a flight ban to Sulaymaniyah and airstrikes on PKK elements.
Qubad Talabani, deputy prime minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government, welcomed Ocalan’s February 27 appeal from prison, urging the PKK to dissolve itself and disarm. The group agreed, announcing on May 12 it would lay down arms after holding a congress at undisclosed sites in northern Iraq.
Kurds in Türkiye hope the PKK’s decision will pave the way for a political settlement and renewed dialogue. Temelli stressed that the Kurdish issue cannot be reduced to disarmament alone and called for a parliamentary committee to develop a democratic solution. He urged that the committee be formed before parliament’s summer recess to build trust and address broader issues of discrimination and minority rights.
