Turkey’s ruling alliance is expected to submit a draft law to parliament on Wednesday that would facilitate the disbandment of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) by allowing the return of thousands of former militants, aiming to end a decades-old conflict, according to state media and a party leader.
– The draft law, some details of which surfaced last November, is focused on managing the return of PKK fighters and civilians from hideouts in northern Iraq, setting out how they will be processed through the justice system and reintegrated into society.
– Lawmakers are expected to approve the legal framework this week, marking a leap towards ending an insurgency that has killed more than 40,000 people since 1984, sown deep discord at home and fuelled violence across borders in Iraq and Syria.
– The bill has broad support in parliament, even though polls show some scepticism that it will bring a lasting peace and sensitivities around the return to Turkey of former PKK members.
– President Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling AK Party (AKP) and its nationalist MHP allies have signed the draft legislation, dubbed “national solidarity and social integration“, while the pro-Kurdish DEM Party and most other parties, including the main opposition, have voiced support for it.
– Abdullah Guler, the AKP’s parliamentary group head, told reporters the bill will be submitted on Wednesday.
– The peace process between Turkey, which has NATO’s second-largest army, and the PKK began in late 2024, but earlier this year due to the Iran war and concerns about broader regional instability.
– The PKK decided in May last year to disarm and disband after an appeal from its jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan. It is designated a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.
– It launched its insurgency in 1984 and initially sought an independent Kurdish state in southeast Turkey, but later refocused on seeking autonomy and Kurdish political rights.