ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A delegation of lawmakers from Turkey’s pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) and prominent figures from Turkey arrived in the Kurdistan Region on Thursday to attend a disarmament ceremony for a group of Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) fighters.

The delegation arrived at Erbil International Airport and was welcomed by the Kurdistan Region Presidency staff. They will remain in Erbil on Thursday ahead of the ceremony. Another delegation arrived in the Region late Thursday through the Ibrahim Khalil border crossing in Duhok province. 

A group of PKK fighters is expected to destroy their weapons during a ceremony scheduled to take place in Sulaimani province on Friday. It marks the first formal step in a peace initiative mediated by the DEM Party to end the four-decade conflict between Turkey and the PKK, which has claimed more than 40,000 lives.

The PKK is headquartered in the rugged Qandil mountains of the Kurdistan Region, a remote area spanning approximately 50 square kilometers near the tri-border region of Turkey, Iraq, and Iran.

According to Murat Sen, the DEM Party’s representative in the Kurdistan Region, the delegation will depart from Erbil to the ceremony site on Friday. 

A source familiar with Friday’s ceremony told Rudaw that “all preparations have been made, and invitations have been sent to parties and journalists.”

According to an informed source speaking to Rudaw on condition of anonymity, “The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) are two of the main parties that have been officially invited by the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) for tomorrow's ceremony.”

The KCK is an umbrella organization encompassing the PKK and affiliated groups. 

Rudaw understands that the majority of political parties in the Kurdistan Region, along with several organizations, political figures, and intellectuals, have also been invited.

Additionally, a delegation of over 30 participants from Europe and the United States - including parliamentarians, academics, and politicians - will take part in the event, with some members already present in the Kurdistan Region.

The ceremony follows a February appeal from the jailed leader of the PKK, Abdullah Ocalan, for the group to abandon armed conflict in favor of political engagement. 

Founded in 1978, the PKK initially sought to establish an independent Kurdish state but in recent decades has shifted toward advocating for greater political and cultural rights for Kurds in Turkey. It is designated a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States, and the European Union.