The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militia on Saturday declared an immediate ceasefire, two days after its jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan called on fighters to lay down their arms and dissolve the group.

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Tens of thousands of people have been killed in the four decades since Kurdish separatist group the PKK took up arms against the Turkish government.

The outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) on Saturday announced a ceasefire with Turkey, two days after its jailed leader Abdullah Öcalan urged the group to disarm and disband. The ceasefire, effective immediately,

Abdullah Ocalan, the leader of the Kurdish insurgent group P.K.K., called on his fighters to lay down their arms after decades of battling the Turkish state.

Abdullah Ocalan’s appeal raised the prospect of an end to a conflict between Turkey and the PKK that since the 1980s has killed an estimated 40,000 people.

The militia wing of the Kurdistan Workers Party announced a cease-fire with immediate effect Saturday to halt decades of conflict between Turkey and the Kurds.

Abdullah Ocalan called on his Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) to disarm and disband, a move with far-reaching political and security consequences for the region.

Pro-Kurdish politicians are meeting the imprisoned leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, as part of renewed peace efforts.

Imprisoned Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan has called on his militant group to lay down its arms and dissolve as part of a bid to end a four-decade long conflict.

Syrian Kurds gathered this week to listen to a message from jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan Outlawed Kurdish group the PKK has declared a ceasefire with Turkey after its jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan called on the movement to lay down its arms and dissolve.