ANKARA: Jailed militant leader Abdullah Ocalan said ​on Friday that peace-related laws were needed for a transition to democratic integration in Turkiye, ‌in a statement ‌read ​out ‌a ⁠year ​after he ⁠called on his Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) to end its decades-old insurgency and disband.

That landmark ⁠call fueled ‌hopes ‌for an ​end ‌to a conflict that ‌has killed more than 40,000 people, sowed deep divisions and ‌stymied development in mainly Kurdish southeast ⁠Turkiye, ⁠but progress has been slow. Ocalan’s statement was read out at a press conference by the pro-Kurdish DEM Party.