ANKARA, Turkey — The PKK Kurdish militant group announced Monday that it will disband and disarm as part of a new peace initiative with Turkey, ending four decades of armed conflict.

The decision by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, which promises to put an end to one of the longest insurgencies in the Middle East and could have a significant impact in Turkey, Syria, and Iraq, was announced by the Firat News Agency, a media outlet close to the group. It comes days after the PKK convened a party congress in northern Iraq.

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

The PKK’s decision will give President Tayyip Erdogan the opportunity to boost development in the mainly Kurdish southeast, where the insurgency has handicapped the regional economy for decades.

Omer Celik, spokesperson for Erdogan’s ruling AK Party, said the PKK’s decision to dissolve was an “an important step toward a terror-free Turkey.”

Turkey’s foreign ministry did not immediately comment on the announcement, which Ankara had been expecting.

In February, PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan, who has been imprisoned on an island near Istanbul since 1999, urged his group to convene a congress and formally decide to disband, marking a pivotal step toward ending the decades-long conflict that has claimed tens of thousands of lives since the 1980s.

On March 1, the PKK announced a unilateral ceasefire, but attached conditions, including the creation of a legal framework for peace negotiations.

The conflict between Turkey and the PKK has spilled over into northern Iraq and northern Syria. It is listed as a terror group by Turkey and its Western allies.

The PKK announcement suggested that its armed struggle has successfully challenged policies that sought to suppress Kurdish rights.

The congress assessed that the PKK’s struggle had “brought the Kurdish issue to the point of resolution through democratic politics, thus completing its historical mission,” according to the statement.

“As a result, activities carried out under the name ‘PKK’ were formally terminated,” the statement said.

Details of the peace initiative have not been made public, and it was not clear how the process would proceed, including how weapons would be disposed of and who would monitor the procedures.

The future of PKK fighters remains uncertain, including whether they may be relocated to third countries. Any concessions the PKK might obtain in exchange for its decision to disband have not been disclosed.

Previous peace efforts between Turkey and the group — most recently in 2015 — have ended with failure.

The announcement by the PKK comes against a backdrop of major changes in the region, including the coming to power of a new administration in Syria, the weakening of the Hezbollah terror movement in Lebanon, and the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza started by the Palestinian terror group’s devastating October 7, 2023, invasion of southern Israel.

In recent years, the PKK has been limited to isolated attacks inside Turkey as the Turkish military, backed by armed drones, has pushed PKK insurgents increasingly across the mountainous border into Iraq.

The latest peace initiative was launched in October by Erdogan’s coalition partner, Devlet Bahceli, a far-right politician who suggested that Ocalan could be granted parole if his group renounces violence and disbands.

In a speech on Saturday, 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.