Turkiye approves pardon-like bill for thousands of PKK fighters

Turkish lawmakers have approved legislation offering a conditional pardon for thousands of members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a major step towards ending decades of deadly violence.

The text – which passed on Monday with a vote of 468 in favour and 88 against, with six abstentions – envisages a return to civilian life for some of the PKK fighters who lay down their weapons without granting a total amnesty.

The law is Turkiye‘s first legislative step towards ending the conflict and comes 18 months after Abdullah Ocalan, the PKK’s jailed founder, urged his followers to disarm.

The PKK, designated a “terrorist” organisation by Turkiye, the United States and the European Union, launched its rebellion in 1984. The conflict has killed more than 40,000 people, imposed a heavy economic burden on mainly Kurdish southeast Turkiye, and fuelled decades of political and social division.

Backed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and the pro-Kurdish DEM Party, the bill suspends prosecutions and prison sentences for some offences for between five and 10 years.

The move is expected to involve the release of around 3,500 PKK-linked detainees in an initial phase, lawmakers said – around a third of the number held in Turkish prisons.