The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) on Monday announced its dissolution and the end of its armed struggle, drawing a line under its deadly four-decade insurgency against the Turkish state.

Founded in the late 1970s by Abdullah Ocalan, the PKK took up arms in 1984, beginning a string of bloody attacks on Turkish soil that sparked a conflict that cost more than 40,000 lives.

The PKK "has decided to dissolve... and end its armed struggle", it said in a statement after a landmark leadership congress, saying it had brought "the Kurdish issue to a point where it can be resolved through democratic politics".

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hailed the move, calling it an "important decision for maintaining peace and fraternity" in the country.

"We are moving confidently towards our goal of terror-free Turkey, overcoming obstacles, breaking prejudices and thwarting the traps of discord," he added.

The PKK statement of intent was also welcomed as a boost for regional security by top officials in Syria and Iraq, by the European Union and at the United Nations.

Ocalan had in February urged his fighters to disarm........

© International Business Times