After 40 Years of Fighting, Insurgents Lay Down Arms

An insurgent group that has waged war for more than 40 years in Turkey on behalf of the nation's Kurdish minority is laying down its arms. The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) said Monday that it will disband—heeding the wish of its long-imprisoned leader, reports the AP.

• The move follows a call in February from PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan, who has been imprisoned on an island in Turkey since 1999, for the group to dissolve. It's possible Ocalan might be pardoned in exchange, reports the BBC.

• The PKK began its armed fight in 1984 with the goal of carving out an independent homeland for Kurds, who account for 20% of the nation's population. More recently, it has fought not for territory but for greater Kurdish autonomy. The group was designated a terrorist organization by Turkey and its Western allies, including the US, and the conflict is estimated to have taken 40,000 lives, per the Washington Post.
• The announcement comes in the wake of a PKK congress, and a group statement says the decades-long fight had "brought the Kurdish issue to the point of resolution through democratic politics, thus completing its historical mission."
• The move has regional implications, because fighting between the PKK and Turkey often spilled over into neighboring nations such as Syria and Iraq, notes the Post.

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