Erdogan says new phase started in efforts for 'terror-free' Turkey after Ocalan call

ANKARA (Reuters) -Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday that a disarmament call from the jailed leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), Abdullah Ocalan, started a new phase in the efforts for a "terror-free Turkey".

Thursday's call from PKK leader Ocalan for the group to disarm and disband could potentially lead to ending a 40-year-old conflict and have far-reaching political and security consequences for the region.

"The efforts for a terror-free Turkey... have entered a new phase as of yesterday," Erdogan said in a speech in Istanbul, in his first comments after the Thursday's call.

"We have the opportunity to take a historic step on the path to the goal of tearing down the wall of terror."

Ocalan's call, prompted by a surprise proposal last October from an ultra-nationalist ally of the Turkish president, has been welcomed by the United States, European Union, and other Western allies, as well as by Turkey's neighbours Iraq and Iran.

"We will closely follow up through our relevant institutions whether the process that has started has been fulfilled by all elements," Erdogan said.

"We will show the utmost caution against any provocation that may arise during this process and take all necessary measures," Erdogan also said.

The PKK has not yet reacted to the call, but the Syrian Kurdish YPG, the spearhead of the key U.S. ally against Islamic State in Syria that Ankara views as an extension of the PKK, has said Ocalan's message did not apply to them.

Erdogan's ruling AK Party spokesman Omer Celik said all Kurdish militia in Iraq and Syria, including the U.S.-allied Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), must lay down their weapons.

"Regardless of what name it uses, the terrorist organisation must lay down its weapons and disarm itself, along with all its elements and extensions in Iraq and Syria," Celik told reporters.

Also on Friday, Turkey's pro-Kurdish DEM Party called on Erdogan's administration to take immediate steps towards democratisation, stressing that his government's response is critical.

The PKK launched its insurgency against the Turkish state in 1984 and is now based in the mountains of northern Iraq. It is designated a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the United States and European Union. More than 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict.

Ankara has repeatedly called on the YPG to disarm since the fall of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad last year, warning that it would face military action otherwise.

(Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu and Huseyin Hayatsever; Editing by Daren Butler, Gareth Jones, William Maclean)