DID Press: Turkey’s parliament has approved a 12-article law providing conditional amnesty and social reintegration measures for former members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), in what the government describes as a historic step toward ending a conflict that has lasted more than four decades and claimed more than 40,000 lives.
The bill was approved on Monday with 468 votes in favor out of 600 lawmakers. It allows judicial cases to be suspended and sentences reduced for former PKK militants who surrender their weapons and refrain from committing new crimes.
The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), its nationalist ally the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), and the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) backed the legislation.
Under the law, the disarmament and surrender of PKK members will be carried out under the supervision of a government commission and Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT).
The move is being described as the most significant step yet by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s government toward ending the armed conflict with the PKK, which began in 1984 and has resulted in more than 40,000 deaths.
However, the PKK has described the legislation as insufficient. Through media outlets affiliated with the group, it said the peace process should continue only if its imprisoned leader, Abdullah Öcalan, is released and broader democratic reforms are introduced for Kurds in Turkey.
Öcalan has been imprisoned on İmralı Island since 1999.