Turkish president hails the start of disarmament by militant Kurdish separatists

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has hailed the disarmament of militant Kurdish separatists as the end of a “painful chapter” in Turkey’s history. Erdogan told a meeting of his ruling party in Ankara Saturday that the more than 40-year-old ”scourge of terrorism" by the Kurdistan Workers' Party - or PKK - is on its way to ending. The Turkish president said a parliamentary commission would be established to oversee the peace process. The PKK has waged an armed insurgency against Turkey since 1984 which morphed from establishing a Kurdish state to ensuring autonomy and rights for Kurds within Turkey. In May, the PKK announced it would heed jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan's calls to formally disarm and disband.