Kurdish militant group PKK announces disbandment

The Kurdish militant group PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party) has announced its decision to disband and disarm, in a move towards ending its decades-long conflict with Turkey.

The historic decision, which aims to end four decades of armed conflict in which tens of thousands of people were killed, was announced by Firat News Agency, a media outlet close to the PKK.

In February this year, its 76-year-old leader Abdullah Öcalan, who has been imprisoned since 1999 on an island near Istanbul, urged the group to meet and formally decide to disband.

The PKK announced a unilateral ceasefire on 1 March, but only under conditions, one of which was the creation of a new legal framework for peace negotiations.

Listed as a terror group by Turkey and its Western allies, the PKK's insurgency in Turkey began in 1984. The conflict spread to northern Iraq and northern Syria, and saw Turkey carry out incursions into these neighbouring regions.

The PKK's initial goal upon its founding was the establishment of an independent Kurdish state, but this later shifted towards focusing on obtaining autonomy and more rights for Kurds within the Turkey.