Thousands of Kurds rally to support their jailed leader who called for immediate cease-fire with Turkey

Some thousands of supporters demonstrate waving various PKK flags and images of jailed Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan, in southeastern Turkish city of Diyarbakir, Turkey, Thursday, March 21, 2013, as Ocalan called Thursday for an immediate cease-fire and for thousands of his fighters to withdraw from Turkish territory, a major step toward ending the fighting for self-rule for Kurds in southeastern Turkey, one of the world’s bloodiest insurgencies lasting nearly 30-years and costing tens of thousands of lives. A Nowruz fire seen in the background. Nowruz, the Farsi-language word for “new year”, is an ancient Persian festival, celebrated on the first day of spring, March 21, in Central Asian republics, Iraq, Turkey, Afghanistan and Iran.

A man holds a poster as some thousands of supporters demonstrate waving various PKK flags and images of jailed Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan, in southeastern Turkish city of Diyarbakir, Turkey, Thursday, March 21, 2013.