Turkey's ruling alliance submits PKK reintegration bill to parliament

ANKARA,— Turkey’s ruling coalition put forward a draft law in parliament on Wednesday aimed at reaching peace with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). The bill would shield many former fighters from prosecution and pause prison terms for others.

The measure is seen as a major step toward ending an armed conflict that has reportedly killed more than 40,000 people since 1984.

The fighting has caused deep divisions inside Turkey and spilled into violence in Iraqi Kurdistan and Syrian Kurdistan.

The law is designed to help end the long-running conflict partly by allowing thousands of former PKK fighters and civilians hiding in Iraqi Kurdistan to return to Turkey.

Most lawmakers support the bill, and it is expected to pass the assembly later this week. Even so, public opinion polls show doubt over whether it will lead to lasting peace.

Under the bill, Turkey’s national security council would confirm the group’s disarmament.

A committee made up of the vice president, several government ministers and the head of the MIT intelligence service would oversee the fighters’ surrender and disarmament.

That committee would then report on the process to a parliamentary commission.

The bill would suspend prison sentences for people convicted of PKK membership or of helping the group, according to a copy of the text.

It also grants legal protection to fighters who were not involved in killings and who come back to Turkey within six months of the law’s passage.

Exceptions apply to PKK figures convicted of more serious crimes, such as directing a terrorist group or receiving an aggravated life sentence issued before 2005. Those individuals would not receive the same legal protections or sentence suspensions.

Turkey's jailed Kurdish leader and founder of Kurdistan Workers' Party PKK Abdullah Ocalan — Turkey’s jailed Kurdish leader and founder of Kurdistan Workers’ Party PKK Abdullah Ocalan, 2026. Photo: ANF

That means PKK founder Abdullah Ocalan, who has been imprisoned since 1999 under an aggravated life sentence, will remain behind bars. Ocalan urged the PKK last year to lay down its weapons and dissolve, and the group agreed to do so.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s AK Party, its nationalist ally the MHP, and the pro-Kurdish DEM Party all support the bill, which is titled the “national solidarity and social integration” law. Most other political parties, including the main opposition, have also said they back it.

DEM co-chair Tuncer Bakirhan said the effort marked a first step and expressed hope it would continue in a positive direction.

Political analyst Henase Karim told iKurd News that the peace process, now in its second attempt since 2013, has yet to touch the core issue: Kurdish rights.

Karim said Kurds still have no path to recognition in Turkey’s constitution as the country’s second-largest nation, with rights that match a minority of their size.

She said Turkey’s only real objective is disarming the PKK, not addressing Kurdish demands.

Kurdish PKK fighters, Iraqi Kurdistan, May 14, 2013. Photo: Reuters

Karim was blunt about Ocalan’s prospects, saying she does not expect Turkey to ever release him and that the PKK leader will likely die in prison.

She added that the movement is bigger than one man, representing millions of Kurds, not just Ocalan.

Karim said nearly two years into the process, Turkey has delivered little beyond promises.

The peace process between Turkey, which has NATO’s second-largest military, and the PKK began in late 2024.

The PKK took up arms against the Turkish state in 1984 to demand greater autonomy for Turkey’s Kurdish minority in what is referred to as Turkish Kurdistan.

Turkey does not recognize Kurds as a distinct group under its constitution.

Kurds make up close to 30 percent of Turkey’s population of 85 million, based on 2012 data. Turkey says the conflict has killed more than 40,000 Turkish soldiers and Kurdish fighters.

(With files from Reuters | Agencies)