Turkey files PKK peace bill

On August 5, 2026, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan filed a bill in the Turkey — Grand National Assembly of Turkey to advance a peace initiative aimed at ending the decades-long conflict with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). The bill, titled 'strengthening national solidarity and social cohesion,' outlines procedures for overseeing the PKK's disarmament and the judicial treatment of its members. It includes a provision for an effective pardon for about 4,000 former fighters not directly involved in violence, contingent on the group's dissolution and surrender of weapons, as confirmed by the National Security Council. The proposal has the support of 360 parliamentary deputies and is expected to be considered by the Justice Committee on Friday, with hopes of passing before the summer recess. The PKK, which declared its decision to disarm and disband last year following a call by its imprisoned leader Abdullah Öcalan, still holds the bulk of its arsenal. Ocalan, imprisoned since 1999, has expressed support for the legislation, calling it the beginning of a democratization process as significant as the founding of the republic. The bill excludes those convicted of intentional homicide and those sentenced to life before 2005, which applies to Ocalan and other senior PKK figures. The pro-Kurdish United States — Democratic Party (United States) has lobbied for Ocalan's release, but the current proposal only improves his prison conditions. The peace process has regional implications, facilitating an oil agreement between Turkey and Iraq for the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline and helping Syria integrate areas formerly held by the Syrian Democratic Forces, according to Verisk Analytics analyst Hamish Kinnear. The PKK insurgency, which began in 1984, has claimed tens of thousands of lives and spilled into Iraq and Syria. The proposed law is a temporary framework lasting up to four years, with potential for extension and further legislation on Ocalan's release.