Jailed Kurdish militant leader Abdullah Ocalan has called on his followers to lay down their arms, in step towards ending the 30 year-old insurgency in Turkey.<br /><br /> The statement was read out by another PKK member calling on Kurdish rebels to hold a congress on disarmament in the spring. It marked the first time a message by Ocalan was read out in front of Turkish government officials.<br /><br /> “We are in the process of ending the 30-year of conflict in the form of a perpetual peace, and our primary goal is to reach a democratic solution. “This is a historic call to replace armed struggle with democratic politics,” the statement read. It is being seen as one of the most significant steps towards peace since the 2013 ceasefire.<br /><br /> Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan welcomed the decision as ‘very important’ but warned that earlier calls by the Kurdish rebels had failed to end the fighting.<br /><br /> The statements come ahead of a parliamentary elections in June, where Erodogan’s AKP party is hoping to
