Kurdish leader Ocalan's call for end to conflict with Turkey welcomed

Turkey's jailed main Kurdish opposition group leader Abdullah Ocalan on Saturday urged his followers to lay down their weapons, ending an armed struggle which has lasted 30 years.
Kurdish National Development Party (NDP) MP, Sirri Sureyya Onder read out on TV a statement by Ocalan, who called for emergency talks amongst his party to discuss abandoning the conflict.
"We are in the process of bringing an end to 30 years of conflict in the form of a perpetual peace, and our main goal is to reach a democratic solution," said the imprisoned Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) leader, who was sentenced to life in 1999 for treason.
"I am calling on the PKK to convene an extraordinary congress in the spring months, to make the strategic and historical decision about ending the armed struggle based on mutually agreed principles.
"This call is a historical declaration of intent on replacing the armed struggle with democratic politics." The call was welcomed by Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, who said it would pave way for the adoption of renewed "democratic policies" in Turkey and would cease conflicts based on ethnic or sectarian grounds.
The move gains particular significance ahead of parliamentary elections due later this year.