AU-Mediated GERD Talks to Kick Off in Kinshasa

 A general view of the Blue Nile river as it passes through the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), near Guba in Ethiopia, on Dec. 26, 2019. EDUARDO SOTERAS/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
A general view of the Blue Nile river as it passes through the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), near Guba in Ethiopia, on Dec. 26, 2019. EDUARDO SOTERAS/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
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AU-Mediated GERD Talks to Kick Off in Kinshasa

 A general view of the Blue Nile river as it passes through the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), near Guba in Ethiopia, on Dec. 26, 2019. EDUARDO SOTERAS/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
A general view of the Blue Nile river as it passes through the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), near Guba in Ethiopia, on Dec. 26, 2019. EDUARDO SOTERAS/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

Foreign ministers from Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan will meet in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on Saturday to discuss the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), which broke ground in 2011.

The three-day meeting in Kinshasa will be hosted by Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi, who is also the chairman of the African Union. Rounds of negotiations among Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia have reached a deadlock several times.

The meeting comes days after Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi warned that his country's share of the Nile River is "untouchable."

In his remarks, Sisi warned that “no one can prejudice Egypt’s right to River Nile waters.” He also warned that any prejudice to this is a “red line”, and will have an impact on the stability of the entire region.

The Sudanese government has also previously warned Ethiopia against unilaterally filling the dam, claiming such a move would threaten Sudan's national security.

In this regard, Sudanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Mariam Sadiq al-Mahdi and Water Resources Minister Yasser Abbas will head Saturday to the Congolese capital to participate in the meetings, Sudan's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

"The Sudanese delegation participates in this round to identify methodology and paths of the talks and reach agreement on them to ensure constructive negotiations that overcome the stalemate that characterized the talks during the past months," it noted.

According to the statement, the talks would discuss Sudan's proposal of a mediation quartet of the United Nations, the European Union, the United States and the African Union to help the three parties reach a binding legal agreement on filling and operating of the dam.

Addis Ababa finished in July 2020 the first phase of filling the reservoir, in preparation for its operation, and announced going ahead with the second filling in July.

Ethiopia began constructing the 1.8-kilometer-long GERD in 2011 to generate power.

However, Cairo and Khartoum fear the potential negative impact of the dam on the flow of their annual share of the Nile’s 55.5 billion cubic meters of water. Both countries continue to stress the need to reach a binding and comprehensive agreement that guarantees the rights and interests of the three countries.



Kurdish PKK Militants Burn Weapons in Iraq to Launch Disarmament

 Armed PKK fighters arrive ahead of a disarming ceremony in Sulaimaniya, Iraq, July 11, 2025, in this screengrab obtained from a handout video. KURDISTAN WORKERS PARTY MEDIA OFFICE/Handout via REUTERS
Armed PKK fighters arrive ahead of a disarming ceremony in Sulaimaniya, Iraq, July 11, 2025, in this screengrab obtained from a handout video. KURDISTAN WORKERS PARTY MEDIA OFFICE/Handout via REUTERS
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Kurdish PKK Militants Burn Weapons in Iraq to Launch Disarmament

 Armed PKK fighters arrive ahead of a disarming ceremony in Sulaimaniya, Iraq, July 11, 2025, in this screengrab obtained from a handout video. KURDISTAN WORKERS PARTY MEDIA OFFICE/Handout via REUTERS
Armed PKK fighters arrive ahead of a disarming ceremony in Sulaimaniya, Iraq, July 11, 2025, in this screengrab obtained from a handout video. KURDISTAN WORKERS PARTY MEDIA OFFICE/Handout via 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 Türkiye.

Footage from the ceremony showed the fighters, half of them women, queuing to place AK-47 assault rifles, bandoliers and other guns into a large grey cauldron. Flames later engulfed the black gun shafts pointed to the sky, as Kurdish, Iraqi and Turkish officials watched nearby, Reuters reported.

The PKK, locked in conflict with the Turkish state and outlawed since 1984, decided in May to disband, disarm and end its separatist struggle after a public call to do so from its long-imprisoned leader Abdullah Ocalan.

After a series of failed peace efforts, the new initiative could pave the way for Ankara to end an insurgency that has killed over 40,000 people, burdened the economy and wrought deep social and political divisions in Türkiye and the wider region.

President Tayyip Erdogan said he hoped the PKK's dissolution would bolster Turkish security and regional stability. "May God grant us success in achieving our goals on this path we walk for the security of our country, the peace of our nation, and the establishment of lasting peace in our region," he said on X.

Friday's ceremony was held at the entrance of the Jasana cave in the town of Dukan, 60 km (37 miles) northwest of Sulaymaniyah in the Kurdistan region of Iraq's north.

The fighters, in beige military fatigues, were flanked by four commanders including senior PKK figure Bese Hozat, who read a statement in Turkish declaring the group's decision to disarm.

"We voluntarily destroy our weapons, in your presence, as a step of goodwill and determination," she said, before another commander read the same statement in Kurdish.

Helicopters hovered overhead, with dozens of Iraqi Kurdish security forces surrounding the mountainous area, a Reuters witness said.

The ceremony was attended by Turkish and Iraqi intelligence figures, officials of Iraq's Kurdistan regional government and senior members of Türkiye's pro-Kurdish DEM party - which also played a key role this year facilitating the PKK's disarmament decision.

It was unclear when further handovers would take place.

A senior Turkish official said the arms handover marked an "irreversible turning point" in the peace process, while another government source said ensuing steps would include the legal reintegration of PKK members into society in Türkiye and efforts to heal communities and promote reconciliation.

The PKK has been based in northern Iraq after being pushed well beyond Türkiye's southeastern frontier in recent years. Türkiye's military carries out regular strikes on PKK bases in the region and established several military outposts there.

The end of NATO member Türkiye's conflict with the PKK could have consequences across the region, including in neighboring Syria where the United States is allied with Syrian Kurdish forces that Ankara deems a PKK offshoot.

Washington and Ankara want those Kurds to quickly integrate with Syria's security structure, which has been undergoing reconfiguration since the fall in December of autocratic President Bashar al-Assad. PKK disarmament could add to this pressure, analysts say.

The PKK, DEM and Ocalan have all called on Erdogan's government to address Kurdish demands for more rights in regions where Kurds form a majority, particularly Türkiye's southeast where the insurgency was concentrated.

In a rare online video published on Wednesday, Ocalan - whose large image was shown at the weapons ceremony - also urged Türkiye's parliament to set up a commission to oversee disarmament and manage the broader peace process.

Ankara has taken steps toward forming the commission, while the DEM and Ocalan have said that legal assurances and certain mechanisms were needed to smooth the PKK's transition into democratic politics.

Omer Celik, spokesman for Erdogan's AK Party, said the ceremony marked a first step toward full disarmament and a "terror-free Türkiye", adding this must be completed "in a short time".

Erdogan has said the disarmament will enable the rebuilding of Türkiye's southeast.

Türkiye spent nearly $1.8 trillion over the past five decades combating terrorism, Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek has said.