After a 40-year insurgency against the Turkish state, the imprisoned leader of the Kurdistan's People Party called the group to end its existence.
ADVERTISEMENTKurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Öcalan has asked the members of the banned Kurdish group to lay down arms and dissolve the organisation for good.
In a long-awaited statement read out by deputies of the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Freedom and Democracy Party (DEM) in Istanbul on Thursday, the imprisoned PKK leader said the group "has completed its life like its counterparts and necessitated its dissolution."
"Throughout the history exceeding 1,000 years, Turks and Kurds have always considered it necessary to remain in an alliance, with a predominantly voluntary aspect, in order to maintain their existence and to survive against hegemonic powers," Öcalan wrote.
"In this climate created by the call made by (Nationalist Movement Party leader) Devlet Bahçeli, the will displayed by President (Recep Tayyip Erdoğan) and the positive approaches of other political parties towards the known call, I call for laying down arms and assume the historical responsibility of this call," he concluded.
Earlier on Thursday, senior officials from DEM met with Öcalan as part of renewed peace efforts between Ankara and the PKK.
The call could potentially end a conflict that has spanned over four decades and claimed tens of thousands of lives.
Öcalan, 75, has been imprisoned on the island of Imrali, off Istanbul, since 1999 after being convicted of treason.
Despite his incarceration, he continues to wield significant influence over the PKK. The group's leadership is widely expected to heed any call Öcalan makes, although some factions within the group could resist, analysts say.
Founded by Öcalan in 1978, the PKK has led an insurgency in Turkey’s southeast since 1984. The group is considered a terrorist organization by Turkey and its Western allies.
Previous peace efforts with the PKK have ended with failure — the most recent in 2015.
This is a developing story and our journalists are working on further updates.