After the fall of Bashar al-Assad, parts of the country that had been closed to outside journalists for a decade suddenly opened up.

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The disarmament of the P.K.K., a group that has battled since the 1980s for Kurdish independence, could end a conflict that has killed more than 40,000 people.

© Shwan Mohammed/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

In the first footage of him to be released publicly in 25 years, Abdullah Ocalan said the P.K.K. insurgency against Turkey would be replaced by politics.