Turkish military aircraft dropped leaflets over mountainous areas in Duhok Province within the Kurdistan Region on the morning of April 22, urging Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) members to surrender and lay down their weapons in response to their imprisoned leader Abdullah Öcalan's call, Shafaq News reported.

Residents of villages located on the foothills of Matin and Kara mountains in Amadiya district, north of the province, told the news agency that "Turkish military aircraft dropped paper leaflets on areas believed to contain PKK elements, as well as on villages adjacent to these mountainous locations."

According to witnesses, the leaflets were written in both Turkish and Kurdish languages and contained messages calling on party members to respond to their detained leader's appeal, urging them to abandon armed action, lay down their weapons and surrender to Turkish authorities. The leaflets also indicated that the government would show leniency if they responded to this call.

On February 27, Abdullah Öcalan, the imprisoned PKK leader, made a historic appeal from his prison on Imrali Island, urging his party to lay down arms and dissolve itself.

This message was read in Istanbul by a delegation of pro-Kurdish Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) deputies who had visited Öcalan earlier the same day.

In his message, Öcalan expressed that he bears "historical responsibility" for this call, stressing the need to shift the struggle from armed conflict to the political arena.

The appeal received an international welcome, with the White House describing it as a "major development" that would promote peace in the troubled region, expressing hope that it would help ease concerns of US allies in Turkey regarding their partners in the fight against ISIS in northeastern Syria.