Kurdish Militant PKK Announces Disbanding, Ending Armed Struggle

The decision, reported by the Kurdish-language Firat News Agency on Monday, followed a congress held last week in northern Iraq and is in response to a call from the group's jailed chief, Abdullah Öcalan, to disband.

Observers say, upon potential confirmation by the PKK itself, the announcement would mark a significant shift in the longstanding conflict, which has resulted in more than 40,000 deaths since the militancy began in 1984.

The group is designated as a “terrorist organization” by Turkey and its Western allies.

However, the Turkish government has not yet issued a statement in response to the announcement.

The report followed a series of events earlier this year, including Öcalan's call for the PKK to lay down arms and dissolve, and a ceasefire declared by the group in March.

Turkey’s pro-Kurdish opposition Peoples' Democratic Party [HDP] has urged the country’s parliament to pass legislation supporting the disarmament of the PKK and to facilitate a peace process.

The PKK disbandment would mark a historic development that, experts say, could pave the way for peace efforts between the Turkish state and various Kurdish groups or revisiting of the Turkish-Kurdish relations.