The Kurdish insurgent group PKK in Turkey says it will lay down its arms and disband after a decades-long fight that killed tens of thousands.

A military coup in Turkey forces much of the PKK to flee to neighboring countries such as Syria and Lebanon, where the fighters train in the Bekaa Valley. Ocalan leaves a year earlier, in 1979. The PKK carries out its first armed attack against Turkish security posts, marking the start of its armed insurgency.

The PKK has announced it will disband and end its 40-year armed conflict with Turkey, calling for a democratic resolution to the Kurdish issue. Ankara welcomed the move but vowed to monitor disarmament closely.