Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) submitted a long-anticipated framework law to parliament on Wednesday, laying out the legal basis for disarming the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and managing the judicial consequences for tens of thousands of people linked to the outlawed group. The bill, formally titled the "Law on Strengthening National Solidarity and Social Integration," was presented to the Grand National Assembly in Ankara with the signatures of 360 lawmakers and is widely regarded as the most comprehensive legislative step yet toward ending a conflict that has claimed more than 40,000 lives since 1984.
The PKK — founded by Abdullah Öcalan and designated a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the European Union and the United States — announced its dissolution in May 2025 following a call from Öcalan himself to lay down arms. That appeal came after a surprise peace initiative launched in late 2024 by Devlet Bahçeli, leader of the nationalist MHP party, which had prompted parliamentary discussions and regular visits by pro-Kurdish DEM Party representatives to Öcalan, who has been imprisoned for 27 years on İmralı island, off the coast of Istanbul. Most PKK cadres and fighters are currently based in northern Iraq.
The draft law does not amount to a blanket amnesty. AKP parliamentary group chairman Abdullah Güler emphasised that the bill is "intended to place the process on a clear legal footing, while preserving Turkey's fight against terrorism." Instead, it creates a case-by-case review mechanism that could result in suspended investigations, postponed sentences or supervised release for those convicted of or investigated for PKK-related offences — excluding the most serious crimes. Applicants would have a six-month window to request consideration, and the process would be overseen by an interministerial council and a parliamentary commission. Critically, the law's provisions would only take effect once Turkey's National Security Council certifies that the PKK and its affiliated structures have fully disbanded and surrendered all weapons.
Broad cross-party backing secured 360 signatures, including from the AKP, the MHP, the pro-Kurdish DEM Party, the Islamist HUDA PAR, some members of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) and several independents. However, the nationalist Good Party and the Victory Party have declared their opposition, while the New Welfare Party is calling for a referendum. Under Turkey's constitution, 400 parliamentary votes are needed for direct enactment; 360 would be sufficient to trigger a public referendum. The government has stated it prefers the parliamentary route. The bill notably contains no provisions regarding Öcalan's own legal situation — something PKK officials had previously called for.
The vote is expected to take place after parliament's summer recess, in autumn. Why this matters: if passed, the law would mark the first comprehensive legal framework Turkey has ever created to manage the end of its decades-long war with the PKK — a conflict that has shaped the country's politics, security and relations with its Kurdish minority of an estimated 15 to 20 million people. Its success will depend both on the parliamentary arithmetic in coming weeks and on whether the PKK's disarmament on the ground is verified as complete.