SULAYMANIYAH, Iraq (Reuters) -Dozens of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants began handing over weapons in a ceremony in a cave in northern Iraq on Friday, officials said, marking a symbolic but significant step toward ending a decades-long insurgency against Turkey.

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

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday his country had achieved victory after Kurdish rebels destroyed their weapons, ending their decades-long armed struggle against Ankara.

The imprisoned leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party has renewed his call for fighters to disarm. Abdullah Ocalan emphasized in a video message on Wednesday the importance of abandoning armed conflict and embracing peace through politics.

Turkey's pro-Kurdish DEM party on Friday hailed a "new era" following a historic disarmament ceremony at which PKK militants began destroying their weapons after ending decades of armed struggle.

The PKK's jailed leader says in video address that his movement no longer seeks a nation state ahead of ceremony to lay down arms