SULAYMANIYAH, Iraq, July 11 (Reuters) - Dozens of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants will hand over their weapons in a ceremony in northern Iraq on Friday, marking a symbolic but significant first step toward ending a decades-long insurgency with Turkey.

The group of 30 members burned their weapons in a cauldron in Iraq. The group has been fighting with Turkey for 40 years.

Fighters from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, have begun laying down their weapons in a symbolic ceremony marking the first step toward the group’s promised disarmament. The move on