A Kurdish militant group fighting for independence from Turkey has declared a ceasefire, heeding its jailed leader's call to disarm and disband.



The Kurdistan Workers Party, also known as PKK, has been fighting the Turkish government since 1984. The PKK is designated as a terrorist organization by the Turkish government and others.



The group's leader Abdullah Ocalan has been imprisoned in Turkey for 26 years.



On Thursday, Ocalan released a statement through his associates who visited him in prison, saying that all groups must lay down their weapons and the PKK must dissolve itself.



In response, the PKK on Saturday said through a media outlet close to it that the group would heed its leader's call and halt all hostilities immediately, unless attacked.



Following an alleged terrorist incident in the suburbs of the Turkish capital Ankara in October last year, the Turkish military attacked Kurdish militants' positions in northern Syria and northern Iraq in retaliation.



If the ceasefire is implemented, it would be a major turning point in the armed conflict spanning over 40 years.