'Let Tears Stop': PKK Leader Pledges to End Conflict With Ankara in 6 Months

Abdullah Ocalan, the jailed leader of Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), who serves a life sentence in the Turkish prison, promised to stop violent conflict between PKK militants and the Turkish government in six months, his brother Mehmet Ocalan said on Monday.

ANKARA (Sputnik) — According to the Milliyet newspaper, during the meeting with his brother Mehmet in prison, Abdullah Ocalan said:

"We have some projects, we have not abandoned the settlement process [of the Kurdish problem]. We will resolve this issue in six months. The war is meaningless. Let tears and bloodshed stop."

Abdullah Ocalan has been serving his life sentence over terrorism charges since 1999. In October 2012, the Turkish government started negotiations with Ocalan to end 35 years of conflict that claimed more than 40,000 lives, according to various estimates. Tensions between Ankara and the Kurds escalated in July 2015, when a ceasefire between Turkey and the PKK collapsed because of a series of terror attacks allegedly committed by PKK members.