ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Turkish lawmakers on Monday passed a landmark bill allowing the reintegration of Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) members who lay down their arms, marking the first legislative step toward ending decades of conflict. The law however does not address the fate of jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan.
The bill passed with 468 votes in favour, 88 against, and six abstentions in Turkey's 562-member parliament.
The legislation, titled the "Law on Strengthening National Solidarity and Social Integration," comprises 12 articles and establishes the legal framework for post-disarmament procedures and the reintegration of PKK members under the peace process.
The bill was jointly prepared by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), and was also signed by the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), along with lawmakers from the opposition Republican People's Party (CHP).
The move comes 18 months after PKK leader Ocalan in February 2025 called on the group to lay down its arms and dissolve itself as a prelude to a political solution to the decades-long conflict with the Turkish state - a conflict that has claimed nearly 40,000 lives, mostly Kurds.
In May 2025, the group declared its dissolution and an end to its armed campaign, temporarily rebranding itself as the Kurdistan Freedom Movement and later in October, it announced the withdrawal of all its fighters from Turkey as part of its push for peace with Ankara.
While the Monday bill offers partial amnesty to PKK fighters, lawmakers did not address the fate of the group's leader, Ocalan, who has been serving a life sentence in solitary confinement on Imrali island since 1999.
The PKK on Sunday criticized the legislation, saying the peace process cannot be fully implemented unless their 77-year-old leader is granted the legal pathway to "free life and work" needed to lead the process, and unless they are guaranteed the right to engage in democratic politics.
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Last updated at 11:11 pm
