SULAYMANIYAH, Iraq, July 11 (Reuters) - Thirty Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants burned their weapons at the mouth of a cave in northern Iraq on Friday, marking a symbolic but significant step toward ending a decades-long insurgency against Turkey.

The Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, held a symbolic ceremony on Friday in northern Iraq. It was the first concrete step toward a promised disarmament, as part of a peace process.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday called for full support of the disarmament of Kurdish militants that began with a handover of the first batch of weapons by Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) forces,

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has hailed the disarmament of militant Kurdish separatists as the end of a “painful chapter” in Turkey’s history.

The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) is set to hold a symbolic disarmament ceremony today in the Sulaymaniyah district of the semi-autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq, marking what is expected to be the end of its 40-year armed conflict against Turkey.