The Kurdish militant group PKK announced Monday that it is disbanding and renouncing armed conflict as part of a new peace initiative with Turkey, ending four decades of hostilities. The decision by the PKK, or Kurdistan Workers’ Party, promises to end one of the longest insurgencies in the Middle East and could have significant impact in Turkey, Syria and Iraq. It was announced by the Firat News Agency, a media outlet close to the group, days after the PKK convened a party congress in northern Iraq. In February, PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan, who has been imprisoned on an island near Istanbul since 1999, urged his group to convene a congress and formally decide to disband and disarm.
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