CNN
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A ceremony in northern Iraq on Friday saw a handful of Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants lay down their weapons, a small but hugely symbolic gesture that marks the beginning of an end to a conflict with the Turkish state that’s lasted nearly five decades and cost tens of thousands of lives.
Politicians and observers gathered for the ceremony held in the ancient cave of Casene near the town of Sulaymaniyah, where about 30 men and women from the militant group placed their weapons in a large cauldron that was later set on fire.
The PKK fighters announced in a statement their intent to continue the “struggle for freedom” through “democratic…
