Jailed Kurdish leader calls on PKK to disarm

The leader of the Kurdistan Workers' party (PKK) has called on the group to disarm and dissolve itself, opening the door to a fragile peace with Turkey after four decades of guerrilla warfare, attacks and reprisals.

- Ruth Michaelson

Abdullah Öcalan, 75, a founding member of the Kurdish militant group, long regarded as a terrorist organisation in Turkey as well as in Britain and the US, issued the message yesterday in a letter read out by allies in Istanbul.

"I am making a call for the laying down of arms, and I take on the historical responsibility for this call," Öcalan was quoted as saying. "All groups must lay down their arms and the PKK must dissolve itself."

Ocalan's message will have far-reaching implications across the Middle East, not least in Syria, where Kurdish forces control significant territory, but also in Iran and Iraq.

Ocalan is serving a life sentence at an island prison south of Istanbul, after being captured by Turkish special forces in Kenya in 1999.

His message was greeted with joy in the Istanbul conference room where Ocalan's allies gathered to broadcast his call, after displaying a photo of supporters visiting the white-haired septuagenarian. A group of older Kurdish peace activists ululated as the call to lay down arms was read out.

"This is the breaking point of history and it is a positive one," said Sırrı Süreyya Önder of the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Equality and Democracy (DEM) party. "We are here with a compass to find a possible route out of these dark, chaotic days." Önder hinted at some of the potential problems to come, adding that while Öcalan had called for the PKK's dissolution and to lay down arms, this "requires the recognition of democratic politics", and legal support for a sustained peace.

DEM politicians said they were hoping for a reprieve in government pressure after the announcement.

Authorities in Ankara have sought to replace politicians and mayors affiliated to the group, particularly in the majority-Kurdish south-east.