In a written statement from his prison cell – he has been held in isolation for a quarter of a century – he urged his Kurdistan Workers’ party (PKK) not only to disarm but to dissolve itself.
On Thursday, the leader of the Kurdish insurgency, Abdullah Öcalan, revered by his supporters, called on fighters to lay down arms.
Ten years ago, a two-year truce between the militant group and the Turkish state imploded and some of the worst violence of the long conflict ensued.
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Abdullah Öcalan’s call for fighters to disarm is an important moment.
