The jailed leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ party (PKK) has called on the group to disarm and dissolve, a major development that paves the way towards ending the 40-year conflict between militant Kurdish groups and the Turkish state and has far-reaching implications for the rest of the Middle East.
The imprisoned PKK leader has received three visits from members of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) party since the olive branch from the Turkish government last autumn.
Abdullah Öcalan’s declaration paves way for end to 40-year conflict between militant Kurdish groups and Turkish state.
When the Ottoman empire collapsed after the first world war, efforts to create an independent Kurdish state failed, turning Kurds into minority populations in Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria.
The declaration follows a surprise peace gesture to Öcalan from Devlet Bahçeli, a hardline nationalist ally of the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, last October.
