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Jailed Kurdish leader urges end to armed struggle in Turkey

Xinhua, March 21, 2015 Adjust font size:

Jailed leader of the outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) Abdullah Ocalan Saturday called on his followers to hold a congress "to end decades-long armed struggle" with Turkey.

"I find it necessary the PKK convene a congress to end four-decades old armed struggle against the Republic of Turkey," Ocalan said in a message on the occasion of Nevruz which marks the arrival of spring.

The message was read out by Sirri Sureyya Onder of the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) in the Diyarbakir province of southeastern Turkey.

Ocalan also called for deciding political and social strategies and tactics in line with spirit of the "new era".

New era for Kurds "would be based on free, egalitarian and constitutional citizenship within the Republic of Turkey," the PKK leader said.

While stressing the need for a "democratic solution" to Turkey's Kurdish problem, Ocalan, in his message, did not directly call for laying down arms.

In 2011, the Turkish Justice and Development Party (AKP) government launched talks with Ocalan, who is jailed on Imrali Island in the Sea of Marmara.

The government and Ocalan recently agreed on a ten-page document which includes an item that the PKK relinquish its arms.

The PKK has been fighting with the Turkish government for broader rights and autonomy. Some 40,000 people were killed in the conflict between the two sides. Endit