Abdullah Ocalan, jailed leader of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group, appeared in a rare online video on Wednesday to declare the group's armed struggle against Turkey over and call for a full transition to democratic politics.

In the first footage of him to be released publicly in 25 years, Abdullah Ocalan said the P.K.K. insurgency against Turkey would be replaced by politics.

In a seven-minute video message broadcast on media close to the militants, Abdullah Ocalan, the leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, declared that the peace initiative had reached a stage that required practical steps.