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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A delegation from Turkey's pro-Kurdish party will attend an upcoming ceremony for the disarmament of a group of Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) fighters in Sulaimani province, a well-informed source told Rudaw on Saturday.
'At the end of this week or the beginning of next week, a DEM Party delegation will visit the Kurdistan Region' to attend the ceremony, a well-informed source from the party said. The Peoples' Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party is mediating peace talks between the PKK and the Turkish state.
The delegation will go directly to Sulaimani province to participate in the ceremony, the source said, but did not name the members of the delegation.
A group of PKK fighters will disarm in early July, launching the practical steps of implementing the group's decision to dissolve and end its armed struggle against Turkey.
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.
While Turkey has welcomed the PKK's decision, it has emphasized the need for taking concrete steps towards total disarmament. Meanwhile, the PKK expects Ankara to introduce democratic reforms.
The disarmament ceremony will take place in Sulaimani's Raparin administration, according to administration head Hiwa Qarani.
The PKK fighters will destroy their weapons during the ceremony rather than hand them over to any other authority, Rudaw has learned.
Founded in 1978, the PKK initially sought an independent Kurdish state but later shifted its focus toward achieving broader political and cultural rights for Kurds in Turkey. The group has been labeled a terrorist organization by Ankara and its allies.
Soran Hussein contributed to this report.
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