Turkey's parliament has passed a landmark law offering thousands of Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) members a conditional amnesty and a path back to civilian life, marking the most concrete legislative step yet in a peace process aimed at ending more than four decades of armed conflict. The bill passed by a wide margin of 468 votes in favour and 88 against in the 600-seat parliament, and suspends prosecutions and prison sentences for between five and fifteen years for PKK members who were not directly involved in violent acts — covering those convicted or detained for membership, propaganda, or financing of the organisation.

The law does not take effect immediately. It will only be triggered once Turkey's National Security Council officially confirms in the government gazette that the PKK has fully dissolved and surrendered all its weapons and military equipment. Once that threshold is met, former fighters will have six months to apply for the suspension of their cases. An initial release of around 3,500 to 3,600 PKK-linked detainees — roughly a third of those currently held in Turkish prisons — is anticipated in the first phase. Notably excluded from the amnesty are those convicted of killings carried out on the PKK's behalf, or sentenced before June 2005, meaning Abdullah Öcalan, the PKK's 77-year-old founder who has been imprisoned since 1999 on Imrali Island in the Sea of Marmara, would remain behind bars.

The PKK, designated a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the United States and the European Union, launched its armed rebellion against the Turkish state in 1984, initially seeking an independent Kurdish homeland before shifting its demands toward greater autonomy and rights for Kurds within Turkey. The conflict has claimed more than 40,000 lives and left deep political and economic scars, particularly in the predominantly Kurdish southeast. In May 2025, the PKK announced it was laying down its arms and dissolving as an armed movement, with fighters holding symbolic weapon-burning ceremonies. Units that had been operating in southeastern Turkey subsequently withdrew to northern Iraq.

The legislation was backed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party, an Islamist-conservative party) and the pro-Kurdish DEM Party, which has served as an intermediary throughout the peace process. Öcalan himself described the law last week as at least as significant as the founding of the Turkish Republic, while also acknowledging that it left questions unresolved. However, the PKK's operational leadership issued a sharp public statement criticising the bill before its passage, warning that many provisions would remain ineffective without Öcalan's release and calling for broader guarantees allowing former fighters to participate in political life.

The law carries significant political dimensions beyond the peace process. Many analysts point out that Erdogan, who under the current constitution cannot run for a third presidential term unless early elections are called or a constitutional amendment is passed, needs the parliamentary support of Kurdish-aligned deputies for either scenario. By advancing the peace process, he may have strengthened his prospects for securing that support. For now, the legislation is widely described as a historic first step — though opposition figures, nationalists, and PKK leaders themselves have all urged caution, noting that durable peace will require much more than a single vote in parliament.