Kurdish militant leader Abdullah Ocalan's call from prison for his Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) to lay down arms sparked both hope and scepticism in Turkey on Thursday, while analysts linked it to a possible bid to overcome presidential term limits.

Abdullah Ocalan’s appeal raised the prospect of an end to a conflict between Turkey and the PKK that since the 1980s has killed an estimated 40,000 people.

Imprisoned Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan has called on his militant group to lay down its arms and dissolve as part of a bid to end a four-decade long conflict.