Ocalan calls on his party to drop arms

The leader of the Turkish Workers Party (PKK), Abdullah Ocalan, has called on his party to drop their arms and withdraw their forces from Turkey.

In a statement circulated by his lawyers on Tuesday in Ankara, Ocalan said: "I call on the PKK to give up armed struggle and withdraw its forces to outside Turkey for the sake of peace, as of the first of September, 1999."

In his message Ocalan said that the violence resulting from the Kurdish problem is an obstacle obstructing improvement of human rights and democratic development in Turkey.

Ocalan has announced ceasefires several times during the 15 years of his party's struggle against the Turkish authorities, most recently in September 1998; however, this is the first time Ocalan has called for a withdrawal from the Turkish territories.