Kurdish militant group PKK announces plans to disband after four decades of armed conflict
A Kurdish militant group has confirmed it will disband and disarm as part of a new peace initiative with Turkey, ending four decades of armed conflict.
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The Kurdistan Workers’ Party, usually referred to as the PKK, comes just days after it convened a party congress in northern Iraq.
The group said that "historic" decisions taken at the congress would be shared with the public soon.
In February, its leader Abdullah Ocalan, who has been imprisoned on an island near Istanbul since 1999, urged his group to convene a congress and formally decide to disband, marking a pivotal step toward ending the decades-long conflict that has claimed tens of thousands of lives since the 1980s.
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The report also said a statement by PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan outlining his "perspectives and proposals" were read during the congress.
In February, Ocalan called on his group to lay down arms and dissolve itself in a bid to end the conflict that has claimed tens of thousands of lives since the 1980s.
The outlawed PKK, which is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey and most Western states, announced a ceasefire days later but had set conditions to disband, including the establishment of a legal mechanism for peace talks.
The latest peace initiative was launched in October by Devlet Bahceli, a far-right Turkish politician who suggested that Ocalan, who is imprisoned on an island off Istanbul, could be granted parole if his group renounces violence and disbands.
Previous peace efforts between Turkey and the group have ended in failure, most recently in 2015.
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