After decades of fighting, the Kurdish group’s imprisoned leader is now calling for its fighters to put down their arms.

The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has been fighting in an insurgency in Turkey since 1984, on Saturday unilaterally declared a ceasefire and said it would heed its jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan's call to disarm.

Turkey's 40-year battle against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) could be nearing an end after its jailed leader, Abdullah Ocalan, called on the militant group on Thursday to lay down its arms and disband.