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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said the country has begun a new era as the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) began to disarm<\/span> after a four-decade armed conflict that killed more than 40,000 people.<\/p>\n In an address to his party, Justice and Development (AKP), Erdogan said on Saturday that the \u201cscourge of terrorism has entered the process of ending\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cDecades of sorrow, tears and distress came to an end. Turkiye turned that page as of yesterday,\u201d Erdogan said.<\/p>\n \u201cToday is a new day; a new page has opened in history. Today, the doors of a great, powerful Turkiye have been flung wide open,\u201d the president added.<\/p>\n In a cave in northern Iraq on Friday, 30 PKK members burned their weapons, marking a hugely symbolic step towards ending their armed campaign against Turkiye.<\/p>\n During Friday\u2019s ceremony, senior PKK figure Bese Hozat read out a statement at the Jasana cave in the town of Dukan, 60 km (37 miles) northwest of Sulaymaniyah in the Kurdish of Iraq\u2019s north, announcing the group\u2019s decision to disarm.<\/p>\n \u201cWe voluntarily destroy our weapons, in your presence, as a step of goodwill and determination,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Since 1984, the PKK has been locked in armed conflict with the Turkish state and decided in May to disarm and disband after a public call from the group\u2019s long-imprisoned leader, Abdullah Ocalan<\/span>.<\/p>\n Ocalan said in a video earlier this week, which was recorded in June by the groups affiliated with Firat News Agency, that the move to disarm was a \u201c voluntary transition from the phase of armed conflict to the phase of democratic politics and law\u201d calling it a \u201chistoric gain\u201d.<\/p>\n Further disarmament is expected to take place at a designated locations, which involves the coordination between Turkiye, Iraq and the Kurdish regional government in Iraq.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n