SULAYMANIYAH, Iraq (Reuters) -Dozens of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants began handing over weapons in a ceremony in a cave in northern Iraq on Friday, officials said, marking a symbolic but significant step toward ending a decades-long insurgency against Turkey.

The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) has begun the first steps towards disarmament, closing a chapter on a four-decade armed campaign against the Turkish state in a conflict that has killed more than 40,

A group of PKK terrorists on Friday laid down their weapons and destroyed them in northern Iraq's Sulaymaniyah province. The group of PKK terrorists gathered in a cave within the boundaries of the Surdas sub-district of Sulaymaniyah, emerged with their weapons, and then proceeded to a site prepared for the disarmament process.

NNA - Turkey on Friday hailed a ceremony where PKK militants destroyed a first batch of weapons as a "milestone" and an "irreversible turning point" on the road to peace.

A group of PKK members confirmed "voluntarily destroying their weapons" in a written statement. Video footage of the ceremony is expected later.

Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani expressed optimism for the future of the peace process between the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the Turkish state after a group of fighters symbolically disarmed in a ceremony in Sulaimani on Friday.

Following Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Öcalan's first ever video message on Jul 9, the group held a symbolic disarmament ceremony today. The ceremony took place at Şikefta Caseneyê caves, a symbolically important location for Kurds in the countryside of Sulaymaniyah under the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in Iraq.