Turkiye-PKK peace process | Back to society

“We are taking the first step on a thousand-kilometre road. We are taking a step towards democracy for everyone,” Abdullah Ocalan said in early August.The remarks by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader, who has been in prison since 1999, came at an important moment as Turkiye attempts to end its long-running conflict with Kurdish minority militants.The latest development came on August 24, when a Monitoring and Evaluation Board set up to oversee the process held its first meeting. The Board, chaired by Vice-President Cevdet Yilmaz, brought together senior officials including Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Defence Minister Yasar Guler and National Intelligence Organisation chief Ibrahim Kalin. It decided to set up four working groups dealing with legal issues, disarmament, monitoring, and the social reintegration of former militants.The move is significant because the process is now moving beyond declarations. Several attempts to bring peace in the past remained unsuccessful; most recently in 2015.A new law passed by Parliament on August 10, as part of that effort, was approved by 468 of the 592 lawmakers who voted.The law provides conditional amnesty measures for people accused or convicted of offences linked to the PKK, including membership, assisting the organisation, spreading propaganda, and financing terrorism. It could pave the way for thousands of militants to return to Turkiye and reintegrate into society, and could also result in prison sentences being suspended for some people convicted of belonging to or supporting the group. The government, meanwhile, has stressed that it is not a general amnesty.For those covered by the law, prison sentences can be suspended and ongoing investigations and trials can be put on hold for five to 10 years. If no terrorism-related offences are committed during that period, the suspended sentences would be considered served and pending cases would be dropped. Some reports online have also suggested that the measures could extend to people in Syria and Iraq.There are clear limits, however. Those convicted of intentional killings are excluded. So are people sentenced to life imprisonment without parole for offences committed before 2005. That is particularly significant for Mr. Ocalan. Despite being a central figure in the current peace process, he would not benefit from the new law. Mr. Yilmaz said Mr. Ocalan’s case “does not fall within the scope of this law”, but added that he could remain “in a position to contribute to the peace process”.The PKK has called the legislation a “beginning” but said it contains “serious shortcomings and deficiencies”. It has also demanded Mr. Ocalan’s release, stating that the process can move forward only if he “lives and works freely”.A long conflictThe PKK began its armed insurgency against the Turkish state in 1984, seeking self-rule for Kurds inside Turkiye. Over the next four decades, the conflict killed more than 40,000 people, devastated parts of southeastern Turkiye and became one of the defining issues of Turkish politics. The PKK is designated as a terrorist organisation by Turkiye, the United States and the European Union.The current attempt at a settlement began taking shape in 2024, when Ankara opened a new channel of dialogue with the Kurdish movement.Later in February 2025, Mr. Ocalan called on the PKK to lay down its arms and dissolve. The group announced its dissolution in May, formally ending its armed campaign. In July, the disarmament process began with a symbolic ceremony in northern Iraq, where PKK burned their weapons. Since then, Ankara has been building the legal and institutional framework around what the government calls “Terror-Free Turkiye”.His February call made him an important channel of communication between the organisation and Ankara. The DEM Party, Turkiye’s main Kurdish political movement, has also helped facilitate communication between Mr. Ocalan and the government.The immediate challenge now is to see how the law will come into force. The measures will take effect only after Turkiye’s National Security Council — chaired by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan — confirms that the PKK has dissolved and surrendered its weapons. The Council is expected to consider findings from Turkish security institutions at its October meeting.Meanwhile, the peace process isn’t without criticism. The New York Times reported that some nationalist politicians said it would reward militants and accused President Erdogan of using it to woo Kurdish voters. Yet, the 77-year-old Mr. Ocalan said, “The process has reached a critical stage. We are moving forward with firm steps”.As the Kurdish broadcast news station Kurdistan 24 reports, the coming two to three months are expected to be a key period for determining how much of the disarmament process is implemented and what steps will follow regarding PKK members and Mr. Ocalan.