Over 30 Westerners invited to PKK disarmament ceremony: Source

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Dozens of figures, including over 30 people from Europe and the US, have been invited to the expected disarmament ceremony of the first batch of Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) fighters in Sulaimani province, a well-informed source told Rudaw on Monday. 

"From northern Kurdistan [southeast Turkey] and Turkey, nearly 50 political, intellectual, and public figures have been invited; also from Europe and America, more than 30 parliamentarians, academics, and political figures will participate,” the source said, speaking on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter. 

“All major international media outlets have been invited,” he added. 

The Kurdistan Community Union (KCK), an umbrella group that includes the PKK, has invited the Kurdistan Region’s political parties and journalists to the event as well, the source noted, expecting the ceremony to be held between Wednesday and Saturday.

The PKK announced its dissolution in May, in response to a February call by its jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan to end the conflict that has claimed around 40,000 lives and pursue a political path to securing Kurdish political and cultural rights.

At the disarmament ceremony in Sulaimani, PKK fighters will destroy their weapons rather than hand them over to any other authority, Rudaw has learned.

A delegation from Turkey’s pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) will also attend the ceremony. The DEM Party is mediating peace talks between the PKK and the Turkish state.

A DEM Party delegation visited Ocalan on Sunday, relaying a positive message from him. The delegation is expected to meet with the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday afternoon. 

Soran Hussein contributed to this article.