After 41 years of armed insurgency against the Turkish state, the Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK) has announced that it will disband.

Representatives of the Turkish government and politicians in opposition parties have all greeted the decision and the likely end of a long and bloody conflict, one where an estimated 40,000 people lost their lives.

The PKK's announcement set off celebrations but also brought up many questions. Political experts say that the dissolution of the group, which is classified as a terrorist organization by Germany and other countries, could fundamentally alter the balance of political power in Turkey.

This could well amount to an important turning point in Turkish politics, says Seren Selvin Korkmaz, co-director of the Istanbul Political Research Institute, or IstanPol.

"The political equations we were talking about a year ago are today completely different," Korkmaz says. "Parties will have to adapt their programs and their discourse."

In particular, things might change a lot for the Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party, a pro-Kurdish political party known as DEM for short.

According to Korkmaz, two main factors will impact Turkish politics over the next three years: How peace with the PKK proceeds and the legal situation around jailed Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu.

The democratically elected mayor was detained in March while the peace process with the PKK was already underway. Korkmaz........

© Deutsche Welle