A group of 30 Kurdish fighters have ceremonially burned their weapons in northern Iraq, marking a major step toward ending a decades-long insurgency.

Abdullah Ocalan, jailed leader of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group, appeared in a rare online video on Wednesday to declare the group's armed struggle against Turkey over and call for a full transition to democratic politics.

During a symbolic ceremony on Friday, thirty fighters from the Kurdish separatist group destroyed their weapons, marking a major step toward ending the group’s decades-long conflict with Turkey.