A Kurdish militant group announced the historic decision Monday to disband and disarm as part of a new peace initiative with Turkey, after four decades of armed conflict.

The decision by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, was announced by the Firat News Agency, a media outlet close to the group.

“The 12th PKK Congress has decided to dissolve the PKK’s organisational structure and end its method of armed struggle,” the Kurdish armed group announced in a statement after holding its congress last week.

In the statement the PKK announced that its armed struggle had successfully challenged policies that sought to suppress Kurdish rights.

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The PKK has “completed its historical mission”, it read.

“This is not the end, it is a new beginning,” PKK executive committee member Duran Kalkan told delegates in remarks quoted by the pro-Kurdish Mezopotamya news agency.

The president of Iraq’s Kurdistan region, Nechirvan Barzani, welcomed the decision saying it would strengthen regional stability.

The PKK decision “demonstrates political maturity and paves the way for a dialogue that promotes coexistence and stability in Turkey and the region”, Barzani said in a statement.

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It “lays the foundation for a lasting peace that would end decades of violence, pain and suffering”, he added.

The office of Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, released a statement saying the president would take all steps necessary to ensure smooth progress toward a “terror-free” country.

The PKK’s announcement to dissolve itself heeds a call by its founder Abdullah Ocalan, jailed in an island off Istanbul since 1999, who urged his fighters in February to disarm and disband.

In a letter, Ocalan urged the PKK to hold a congress to formalise the decision. Days later, the PKK’s leadership accepted Ocalan’s call, declaring a ceasefire.

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In a speech on Saturday, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hinted that news about a dissolution could come at any moment, adding that his government was determined to “save our country from the scourge of terrorism”.

“We are advancing with firm steps on the path to the goal of a terror-free Turkey,” he said.

The PKK, designated a terrorist group by Turkey, the United States and the European Union, has waged an insurgency since 1984.

Its original aim was to carve out a homeland for Kurds, who make up about 20 percent of Turkey’s 85 million people.

Since Ocalan was jailed there have been various attempts to end the bloodshed, which has cost more than 40,000 lives.