Jailed Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan has called for a cease-fire and told his fighters to leave Turkish territory, raising hopes that a three-decade insurgency can be brought to an end.
In a letter read Thursday by a Kurdish lawmaker to hundreds of thousands of people gathered in the southeastern Turkish city of Diyarbakir, Ocalan said it was time for guns to be silenced and for politics to prevail.
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The crowds massed in the city's central square and waved pro-Kurdish banners for the event, which was timed to coincide with Kurdish New Year celebrations.
Hailing what he called the start of a "new era," Ocalan said the time had come for "our armed elements" to withdraw beyond Turkey's borders.
The cease-fire call is likely to be in exchange for more autonomy for Kurds in Turkey and a release of Kurdish prisoners from Turkish jails.
As a show of good faith, Kurdish rebels recently released eight Turkish citizens they had been holding captive in northern Iraq.
Kurds have been fighting for self-rule in Turkey's southeast. The administration of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has already granted them some new language rights, including a Kurdish-language television station.
The PKK has been fighting the Turkish state since 1984. The group initially demanded an independent Kurdish state, but later moderated its goals to greater autonomy and cultural rights for Kurds.
The conflict has claimed nearly 40,000 lives. In the last year, violence has returned to the levels of the 1990s, the height of the conflict.
Experts estimate that about 2,500 PKK rebels are based in Turkey, with the rest camped in neighboring northern Iraq.
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