Kurdish militants who have waged a 40-year insurgency in Turkey declared a ceasefire on Saturday in what could mark a significant boost to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government, two days after their imprisoned leader called for the group to disarm.

French President Emmanuel Macron spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday and called for calm in an interview following Friday's clash between the U.S. and Ukrainian leaders at the White House.

Outlawed Kurdish group the PKK has declared a ceasefire with Turkey after its jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan called on the movement to lay down its arms and dissolve. In Saturday's statement, the PKK said it hoped Turkey would release Ocalan, who has been imprisoned in solitary confinement since 1999, so he could lead a process of disarmament.

Outlawed Kurdish militants declared a ceasefire Saturday with Turkey following a landmark call by jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan asking the group to disband and end more than four decades of armed struggle.

A momentous ceasefire declaration on Saturday stirred a mix of emotions in southeast Turkey and northern Iraq, where people bore the brunt of the 40-year conflict between Kurdish militants and the Turkish state.

The outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) on Saturday announced a ceasefire with Turkey, two days after its jailed leader Abdullah Öcalan urged the group to disarm and disband. The ceasefire, effective immediately,

The mountains of northern Iraq have for years been a sanctuary for Kurdish militants fighting a decades-long insurgency against the government in neighboring Turkey.

Reuters, the news and media division of Thomson Reuters, is the world’s largest multimedia news provider, reaching billions of people worldwide every day. Reuters provides business, financial, national and international news to professionals via desktop terminals, the world's media organizations, industry events and directly to consumers.

The conflict, which began in 1984, has led to tens of thousands of deaths. The ceasefire is the first sign of an end to the conflict since peace talks between the PKK and Ankara broke down in the summer of 2015.