The move came after PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan, who has been imprisoned on an island near Istanbul since 1999, urged his group in February to convene a congress and formally disband and disarm.

Families whose children joined the PKK (Kurdish Workers Party), hold their images as they sit in front of the headquarters of ...

In March, the PKK declared an immediate ceasefire after Ocalan called on fighters to lay down their arms and dissolve the group. The conflict is estimated to have killed at least 40,000 people.

He established the PKK in 1978 and launched an arm struggle in 1984, mainly from hiding places inside Turkey and in Syria, where he took refuge before being forced out in 1998.