As the year 1394 dawned in parts of the world, the leader of the PKK Kurdistan Workers Party called for peace in Turkey.
In prison in Imrali since 1999, Abdullah Ocalan had his new year message read out by politicians in the mainly Kurdish city of Diyarbakir, in Turkey’s south east.
He used the address to push the PKK to hold a congress to end a long-running armed struggle against Turkish government forces. For three decades, the militant group has fought for greater autonomy and cultural rights for an estimated 15 million Turkish Kurds.
#BREAKING Öcalan calls for PKK talks to end four-decade armed struggle #Turkey http://t.co/dSu2wdSd6X pic.twitter.com/QA8oDLOnw3— Today’s Zaman (@todayszamancom) March 21, 2015
The militant group declared a ceasefire in the country in 2013, although bouts of violence still occur. Turkey, the US and the EU consider the PKK a terror organisation.
In the lead up to the speech, prominent Turkish figures and local residents alike expressed hope it
