Abdullah Ocalan, the leader of the Kurdish liberation movement and long-time prisoner in Turkey, has delivered a historic message. Turkish authorities previously agreed that the figure would provide a video message, but they have banned it.
A delegation from Turkey's pro-Kurdish Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM) arrived in Istanbul after meeting with Abdullah Ocalan on the prison island of Imrali and presented his message.
"All groups must disarm, and the PKK must be disbanded. I call for laying down arms, and I assume the historical responsibility for this call," Ocalan said in the message.
According to the Kurdish leader, the practice of identity denial has disappeared in Turkey, and the achievements in the field of freedom of expression have led to the PKK losing its meaning and being redundant.
"As a result, like other similar movements, it has reached the end of its life, which makes it necessary to dissolve it," Ocalan said, calling for the reconstruction of Kurdish-Turkish unity and brotherhood.
