Kurdish Rebel Leader Ocalan Urges PKK Disarmament to End Conflict in Turkey

Abdullah Ocalan, the jailed leader of Turkey's rebel Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, has called on his followers to lay down arms in a bid to find a democratic solution to the 30-year-old insurgency.

The outlawed PKK, however, has rejected the call to disarm, saying Turkey's government must first withdraw a controversial security bill now before Parliament that would increase police powers.

Ocalan, serving a life sentence since 1999, suggested in a message read over Turkish TV by a Kurdish lawmaker on Saturday that a congress was held in the spring to make a declaration ending the armed conflict that has claimed the lives of more than 40,000 people, mostly Kurds.

"This is a historic call to replace armed struggle with democratic politics," Ocalan said in the message.

According to a BBC analysis, Ocalan's call to bring "an end to the conflict, in the form of a perpetual peace" is the most important step in Turkey's efforts to resolve its Kurdish question since 2013, when Ocalan declared a ceasefire.

Despite minor breaches, the ceasefire has held so far, dispelling forecasts the period of peace would be short-lived.  

The rebel group, listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the EU and the US, said in a statement on Sunday it had already implemented a ceasefire and now the Turkish government must show its sincerity by scrapping the security bill.

Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister Yalcin Akdogan on Saturday commented that the government and PKK "have reached an important and historical phase in the peace process."

"Silencing arms will contribute to the development of democracy," Akdogan said.