Key dates in PKK Kurdish militant group's decades-long armed struggle against Turkey

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 Friday is part of a peace effort with Turkey aimed at ending decades of conflict that have claimed tens of thousands of lives. The PKK, founded in 1978, initially sought an independent Kurdish state but later shifted to demands for autonomy and Kurdish rights. The group has been involved in violent insurgency since 1984. Recent gestures, including ceasefires and disarmament, signal a potential end to the long-standing conflict.