The imprisoned leader of the banned Kurdish organization PKK, Abdullah Ocalan, has urged his outfit to disband and put down its weapons.
His remarks, which were read aloud in a letter by members of parliament from a pro-Kurdish party, were intended to put an end to the armed conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people in southeast Turkey over the past forty years.
On Imrali, an island in the Sea of Marmara southwest of Istanbul, where he has been held in solitary confinement since 1999, Ocalan, 75, had previously spent several hours with the MPs.
His declaration was made months after Turkish government supporter and ultra-nationalist leader Devlet Bahceli started a campaign to terminate the war.
