
One of the world's most protracted armed conflicts could finally be drawing to a close in Turkey. This month, a small group of fighters from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has been waging an armed struggle against the Turkish state for greater minority rights, voluntarily disarmed.
At a ceremony in northern Iraq, PKK commander Bese Hozart announced that the disarmament by 30 fighters - 15 men and 15 women - was undertaken freely and in line with the group's commitment to pursue a democratic socialist society through peaceful means. The fighters' weapons were burned as part of the symbolic event.