The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) has led a decades-long insurgency against the Turkish state, and its presence in Iraq has been a recurrent source of tension between Baghdad and Ankara.

In a statement late Thursday, Iraq's foreign ministry said Ocalan's call for the group to lay down its arms was "a positive and important step towards achieving stability in the region".

It could contribute to "enhancing security not only in Iraq... but in the entire region", said the ministry.

The statement stressed that "political solutions and dialogue are the best way to resolve differences and end conflicts".

In a major shift, a declaration from Ocalan earlier on Thursday said that "all groups must lay down their arms and the PKK must dissolve itself".

The call, drawn up in Ocalan's cell in a Turkish prison where he has been held in solitary confinement since 1999, came four months after Ankara offered an olive branch to the 75-year-old militant leader.

In Iraq, the PKK holds positions in the autonomous Kurdistan region, where Turkey also maintains military bases and often carries out ground and air operations against the Kurdish militants.

Baghdad has recently sharpened its tone against the PKK, quietly listing it as a "banned organisation" last year.

However, Turkey wants Iraq to go further and officially declare it a terrorist group.

In August, Baghdad and Ankara signed a military cooperation deal to establish joint command and training centres with the aim of fighting the PKK.

In its Thursday statement, the Iraqi foreign ministry expressed hope that the PKK take "rapid steps" to lay down its weapons and emphasised the government's commitment to ensure "strong relations with neighbouring Turkey".