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.

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — The imprisoned leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party has called on his organization to disarm and dissolve as part of a new effort to end 40 years of fighting between the state and the banned militant group.

Abdullah Ocalan, the leader of the Kurdish insurgent group P.K.K., called on his fighters to lay down their arms after decades of battling the Turkish state.