Kurdish PKK militants declare ceasefire in 40-year conflict with Turkey

Kurdish militants have declared a ceasefire in their 40-year conflict with Turkey.

It comes two days after their imprisoned leader called for the group to disarm.

The statement from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) was published on Saturday by the Firat News Agency, a media outlet which is close to the group.

Referring to its leader Abdullah Ocalan, who has been in prison for almost three decades, the group said: "We declare a ceasefire effective today to pave the way for the implementation of Leader Apo's call for peace and democratic society.

"None of our forces will take armed action unless attacked."

Ocalan had previously called for the PKK to lay down its arms. The 75-year-old continues to have significant influence over the PKK, despite having been imprisoned in 1999 after he was convicted of treason.

The conflict, which began in 1984, has seen the PKK wage an insurgency in the hope of carving out a homeland for the Kurds in an area straddling the borders of southeastern Turkey, northern Syria and Iraq, and part of Iran.

Tens of thousands of people have died in the conflict. In October last year, five people died in a terror attack on a defence company headquarters, which the Turkish government blamed on the PKK.

The group is proscribed as a terror organisation by Western nations, including the US and UK, as well as the European Union.

The ceasefire is the first sign of an end to the conflict since peace talks between the PKK and Ankara broke down in the summer of 2015.

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This latest peace bid was initiated in October by Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's coalition partner, Devlet Bahceli and could see Ocalan granted parole - if the PKK renounce violence and disbands.

In its statement, the PKK said Ocalan's statement indicated that a "new historical process has begun in Kurdistan and the Middle East".

Kurdistan refers to the parts of Turkey, Iraq, Syria and Iran inhabited by Kurds.

The group also called for Ocalan to be released from Imrali prison, in the Marmara Sea, to "personally direct and execute" a party congress.

(c) Sky News 2025: Kurdish PKK militants declare ceasefire in 40-year conflict with Turkey