ISTANBUL/BAGHDAD/DAMASCUS - Abdullah Ocalan, the jailed leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), called for disarmament and the dissolution of the organization, the pro-Kurdish Democratic Party (DEM Party) announced on Thursday in Istanbul.

Pervin Buldan, a party member, read Ocalan's statement at a press conference, following the DEM Party delegation's visit to the PKK leader on Thursday at his prison on Imrali Island in the Sea of Marmara, off Istanbul.

"All groups (affiliated with PKK) must lay down their arms, and the PKK must dissolve itself. I take on the historic responsibility of this call," Ocalan was quoted as saying.

"Hold your congress and make a decision for integration with the state and society," the PKK leader said.

Before the announcement, the DEM Party delegation showed a photo of their meeting with Ocalan holding the statement.

The statement is seen as a potential move to end the PKK's more than 40-year-long insurgency against the Turkish state, which has claimed over 40,000 lives.

The meetings between DEM Party officials and Ocalan, held three times since December, are part of a Turkish government initiative aimed at ending the insurgency, which began in 1984.

Ocalan, who has been held in near-total isolation in Imrali since 1999, founded the PKK in 1978. The PKK is designated as a terrorist group by Türkiye, the United States, and the European Union.

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Also on Tuesday, leaders of Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region welcomed the call by Ocalan to disarm and dissolve the group.

"We warmly welcome Ocalan's message and his call for disarmament and dissolution of the PKK. We request that the PKK commit to and obey this message and implement it," President of the Kurdistan region Nechirvan Barzani said in a statement.

"We hope this call will pave the way for achieving peace and peaceful resolution," Barzani said.

Masoud Barzani, leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, said in a statement, "We hope that Ocalan's message will be the beginning of putting the peace process on track and reaching an outcome in the interest of all parties."

Ocalan's call for disarmament and dissolution of the organization "affirms peace and security," Mazloum Abdi, top commander of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, said Thursday.

Speaking at a press conference via video link from Washington, Abdi clarified that Ocalan's call pertains to the PKK and does not concern Syria.

Meanwhile, Abdi said that in response to the SDF's exclusion from the recently-concluded Syrian National Dialogue Conference in Damascus, the SDF is planning its own dialogue in areas under its control to discuss Syria's future.