The first group of 50 militants of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) will lay down their weapons in the northern Iraqi city of Duhok within ten days.

The disarmament process of the PKK, which previously announced its disbanding, may be completed by September, Turkish media report.

Accordingly, the PKK militants will hand over their weapons under the supervision of representatives of Turkey, the central authorities of Iraq, and the Iraqi Kurdistan administration.

The disarmament process will be carried out without the participation of representatives of any other countries and the UN, TASS reports.

And all camps of Kurdish militants will subsequently come under the control of the Iraqi authorities.

The PKK, which is banned and recognized as a terrorist organization by Turkey, had held a congress during which it decided to disband and end its almost 50-year armed conflict with the Turkish authorities. The congress statement noted that the PKK was now transitioning to democratic and political methods of struggle.

In late February, PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan, who is serving a life sentence in Turkey, had called on all PKK-affiliated groups to lay down their arms, end the conflict with Turkey, and disband the Kurdistan Workers Party.