The pro-Kurdish People's Democracy Party in Turkey has elected a new leader following the imprisonment and resignation of its previous head.

Ahmet Turan Demir, who's a retired civil servant, replaces Murat Bozlak, who was recently jailed for allegedly inciting racial hatred.

Mr Demir said that the decision by guerrillas of the PKK to cease fighting and withdraw had given the Turkish government an opportunity to address Kurdish demands for increased cultural rights.

The BBC Ankara correspondent says optimism appears to be growing on both sides that an end to the fifteen-year-old war could now be in sight.