Kurdish leader calls on his PKK fighters to lay down arms

Abdullah Ocalan was quoted as asking his group to hold an extraordinary congress in the spring to take the "historic decision" to end its armed struggle.

In this June 29, 1999 photo, Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan (right) stands next to a Turkish gendarme during his trial on the prison island of Imrali, Turkey. Abdurrahman Antakyali, Anatolia, FiShow more

ANKARA // Imprisoned Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan has called on his fighters to lay down arms as part of a peace process to end a 30-year insurgency in Turkey.

Pro-Kurdish legislator Sirri Sureyya Onder said on Saturday that Ocalan is asking his Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, to hold an extraordinary congress in the spring to take the “historic decision” to end its armed struggle.

He quoted Ocalan as saying: “This call (for a congress) is a declaration of intent for democratic politics to replace the armed struggle.”

There was no immediate response from PKK commanders who are based in northern Iraq, but the group generally heeds Ocalan’s calls.

Mr Onder also quoted Ocalan as calling for 10 measures that Kurds want to ensure peace, including a new constitution. President Tayyip Erdogan is also seeking a new constitution that grants more executive powers to his office and would replace a charter drawn up by technocrats after a 1980 military coup.

Ocalan has been serving a life term in prison on an island south of Istanbul since 1999 but retains influence over his fighters.

Turkey began talking to Ocalan in 2012 with the aim of ending the conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people since 1984.

Ocalan declared a ceasefire in 2013 and ordered the PKK to withdraw fighters to bases in neighbouring northern Iraq as part of the peace efforts. The ceasefire is still in place but the PKK halted its withdrawal a few months later, saying Turkey had not taken any steps to reciprocate.

“The dialogue which, from time to time hits disruptions and breakages, has reached ... a serious stage,” said Mr Onder, who is among a group of Kurdish politicians allowed to visit Ocalan in prison to discuss the peace efforts.

Mr Onder spoke after a meeting with Turkey’s deputy prime minister Yalcin Akdogan who also described Ocalan’s call as a major step. “We regard the statement toward the acceleration of efforts to lay down arms as important,” he said.

* Associated Press with additional reporting by Reuters