Jailed PKK leader calls for Kurdish militant group to disarm and end decades-long conflict with Turkiye

Abdullah Ocalan, the jailed leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), has called for the group to lay down its arms and dissolve itself. This statement comes after decades of conflict between the PKK and Turkey, which has resulted in an estimated 40,000 deaths. Ocalan, who has been imprisoned since 1999, made the call in a declaration read out in Istanbul, stating that "all groups must lay down their arms and the PKK must dissolve itself". This call is seen as a significant development in the conflict, which has been ongoing for almost five decades.