Since the PKK launched its insurgency in 1984 - originally with the aim of creating an independent Kurdish state - the conflict has killed more than 40,000 people, exerted a huge economic burden and fuelled social tensions.
While Ankara welcomed the decision to dissolve, it does not guarantee peace. Rather it paves the way for agreeing a tricky legal framework for securely disarming the PKK, which is designated a terrorist group by Turkey and its Western allies.
A PKK official separately confirmed the decision and said all military operations would cease “immediately”, adding weapon handovers were contingent on Ankara’s response and approach to Kurdish rights, and the fate of PKK fighters and leaders.
The PKK held the congress in response to a February call to disband from its jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan, who has been imprisoned on an island south of Istanbul since 1999. It said on Monday that he would manage the process.
REGIONAL FALLOUT
YPG has previously said Ocalan's call did not apply to it, contradicting Ankara's view. It did not immediately comment on the PKK's announcement.
Turkey will take necessary measures to ensure smooth progress toward a “terror-free” country after the PKK decision, said the presidency’s communications director, Fahrettin Altun.
“The PKK struggle has broken the policy of denial and annihilation of our people and brought the Kurdish issue to a point of solving it through democratic politics,“ it said on the Firat news website, which showed images of senior PKK members attending the congress in fighter fatigues.
The pro-Kurdish DEM Party, Turkey's third largest, played a key role facilitating Ocalan's peace call. Tayip Temel, a deputy party leader, told Reuters the PKK decision was significant for Kurdish people and the Middle East as a whole.
Analysts have said Erdogan, who has made repeated efforts in the past to end the conflict, is focused on the domestic political dividends that peace could bring as he looks to extend his two-decade rule beyond 2028 when his term expires.
The lira was flat at 38.765 to the dollar after the PKK announcement while Istanbul-listed shares rose 3%.
“It is really important that people do not die anymore, that the Kurdish problem is solved in a more democratic structure,“ said Hasan Huseyin Ceylan, 45, describing the PKK move as very important for both Kurdish and Turkish people.
Ending the insurgency would remove a constant flashpoint in Kurdish-run, oil-rich northern Iraq, while facilitating efforts by Syria's new administration to assert greater sway over areas in northern Syria controlled by Kurdish forces.
Ocalan's call was prompted by a surprise proposal in October by Devlet Bahceli, Erdogan's ultra-nationalist ally. It had been welcomed by the United States, the European Union and also by Iraq and Iran, which have significant Kurdish populations. (
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