Türkiye’s Parliament on Monday announced that it had passed a new law creating conditional legal mechanisms for certain members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a shift signifying advancing the government’s “Terror-Free Turkey” initiative and potentially opening a new phase in the country’s decades-long conflict with Kurdish militants.
The Law on Strengthening National Solidarity and Social Integration passed with 468 votes in favour, 88 against and six abstentions. It does not provide a general amnesty or erase criminal convictions, but it allows certain investigations, prosecutions and sentences involving PKK/Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK)-related offences to be postponed if authorities first confirm that the organizations have dissolved and surrendered their weapons.
Under the recent law, eligible offences carrying a maximum sentence of 15 years or less may have proceedings postponed for five years; meanwhile, offences carrying longer sentences (including life imprisonment) may be postponed for 10 years. Intentional homicide committed as part of the organization’s activities and several other serious offences are excluded. However, if an individual commits another terrorist offence during the postponement period, the benefit is cancelled, and proceedings or sentences may resume.
The measures will only become available after Türkiye’s security institutions determine that the PKK/KCK has ended its organizational existence and surrendered its weapons. The National Security Council must then confirm the determination, which must be published in the Official Gazette. The legislation received significant parliamentary support, including from the governing AK Party, MHP, CHP and pro-Kurdish DEM Party. Opposition came primarily from the İYİ Party, which argued that the law could undermine constitutional principles and effectively operate as an amnesty.
The PKK was founded by Abdullah Öcalan in 1978 and began an armed insurgency against Türkiye in 1984. Although the PKK initially sought an independent Kurdish state, it later shifted toward demands for greater political and cultural rights for Kurds within Türkiye. Peace talks between Ankara and the PKK began in 2013 but collapsed in 2015, leading to renewed violence.
Around 30 million Kurds live across the Middle East, mainly in Türkiye, Iran, Iraq and Syria. For many years, these regions have also had long-disputed restrictions on Kurdish language rights and social and political participation. In Türkiye, Kurdish political parties have achieved electoral success, particularly in Kurdish-majority southeastern areas, but Kurdish representatives argue that Türkiye institutions, including the Constitutional Court, have frequently restricted Kurdish political movements.