The PKK has completed its "historic mission", it says in a statement according to Kurdish Firat, which is close to the PKK.
Thus, the armed struggle against the Turkish state, which has raged for over 40 years and claimed around 45,000 lives, is ending.
From now on, the struggle to develop a Kurdish democracy and a permanent peace will be handled by political parties, organizations, and opinion-makers, according to the PKK.
Turkey's Foreign Minister calls the announcement a "historic" milestone for regional peace and stability, reports news agency AFP.
The PKK's decision is historic and important, especially considering lasting peace and stability in our region, says Hakan Fidan at a joint press conference with his Jordanian and Syrian colleagues.
Demanding action
Syria's Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani congratulates Turkey.
This step constitutes a significant moment, not just for Turkey's internal security but for the entire region's stability, he says at the press conference in Ankara.
The Turkish ruling party AKP, led by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is simultaneously demanding that the PKK's words become actions.
"This decision must be implemented in practice and fully realized in all its dimensions. A concrete and complete implementation of the decision on dissolution and disarmament – including all branches and offshoots of the PKK, as well as its illegal structures – will mark a turning point", writes spokesperson Ömer Çelik on X.
"Will understand"
The announcement of the dissolution came after the PKK, which has been in a bloody conflict with Turkey's regime for decades, held a congress last week. During the congress, "historic decisions were made that marked the entry into a new era for our freedom movement, it says in Monday's statement.
The PKK's founder Abdullah Öcalan, who has been imprisoned in Turkey for over 25 years, called on the movement in February this year to lay down its arms and dissolve. Öcalan's call was met with partial skepticism and confusion.
"We have full confidence that our people will understand the decision to dissolve the PKK and end the armed struggle", the movement writes now.
Facts: PKK
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The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) was founded in 1978 as a Marxist party.
The movement's goal was a Kurdish state in southeastern Turkey and adjacent parts of neighboring countries. The Kurds make up around 20 percent of Turkey's 85 million inhabitants.
1984, the PKK took up arms against the Turkish state in the struggle for independence.
The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the EU, and the USA.
Turkey has, among other things, demanded tougher measures against the PKK in Sweden in order to approve Sweden's NATO membership.
