New Delhi, May 12 -- The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), the militant group involved in a four-decade-long insurgency against Turkey, has announced it will disband and end its armed operations. The decision, declared in a statement issued after a recent leadership congress in northern Iraq, marks a historic shift in the Kurdish-Turkish conflict.

"The PKK has fulfilled its historical mission," the group said. It added that the Kurdish issue had reached a point where it could be resolved through "democratic politics."

A senior PKK official confirmed that all military operations would cease immediately. However, the handover of weapons would depend on the Turkish government's response to the group's demands regarding Kurdish rights and the...