Leader Ocalan urges Kurdish militant group PKK to dissolve and lay down its arms

The jailed leader of the outlawed Kurdish militant group PKK called on Thursday for the group to lay down its arms and dissolve itself, in a letter read by Turkey’s pro-Kurdish DEM Party.

His call, if heeded by the PKK fighters, opens the door to ending a conflict that has ravaged southeastern Turkey for four decades and will also have significant implications for the wider region, especially neighbouring Syria and Iraq.