ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Turkey will begin discussing a legal framework to reintegrate members of the breakaway Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) into Turkish society after a key parliamentary vote that will “accelerate” the peace process, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday.
Turkish lawmakers on Wednesday approved a report that lays the groundwork for PKK fighters who reject violence to rejoin Turkish society but stops short of granting amnesty.
In addition to Turkey, PKK members are isolated and scattered throughout the region, with a base in the Kurdistan Region's rugged Qandil mountains and fighters in Syria.
Erdogan called the report a “roadmap” and an “important achievement” that will “accelerate the process.”
In a statement on X, he praised a parliamentary commission for passing a report “built on consensus.”
Erodgan said parliament will use the report to discuss legal frameworks to formally disband the PKK, without providing a timeframe.
The PKK agreed to lay down its arms last year following decades of violence that have killed an estimated 50,000.
“Steps will be taken towards the complete elimination of the terrorist organization,” he said.
Turkey’s designaton of the PKK as a terrorist organization allows for lengthy criminal sentences, freezing of assets, and other severe penalties for anyone deemed supporting the group. The harsh punishments, including the imprisonment of the group’s leader, Abdullah Ocalan, have isolated PKK members and are seen as a key challenge in the peace process.
The report recommends that non-violent acts and free expression “should not be classified as terrorism,” and called for a “fairer and more equitable approach” to sentencing or releasing prisoners.
"The law should seek the reintegration of individuals who reject weapons and violence into society," the report said, but it "should not create a perception of impunity and amnesty."
The vote came shortly after a meeting between Erdogan and the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party’s (DEM Party) addressing “that the Turkish parliament, the relevant ministries, and public institutions need to intensify their efforts to take concrete and reassuring steps regarding the ongoing process,” the party said in a statement.
The 50-member committee voted overwhelmingly in favor of the report, with just two voting against, Turkey’s state-run Andalou News Agency reported. The report was approved by the Turkish parliament’s National Solidarity, Brotherhood and Democracy Committee, which has been chaired by parliamentary speaker Numan Kurtulmus since it was established in early August.
The AFP news agency reported that some lawmakers have expressed reservations over the report for not addressing “the Kurdish question” or Ocalan’s life sentence. DEM Party members have stepped up pressure for Ocalan’s release and recently visited him in prison.