Turkey's military will continue acting against PKK militants in regions where they are present until it is "certain" the threat is removed following the Kurdish group's decision to disband, the defense ministry said Thursday,

After more than four decades of armed struggle, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) has announced its intention to lay down arms. The move, declared unilaterally and without negotiations or concessions from Ankara,

The Firat news agency published what it said was the closing declaration of a congress that the PKK held last week in northern Iraq, in response to a call in February from its jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan to disband. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s office and the foreign ministry did not immediately comment on the announcement.