ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - As the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) approaches the anniversary of its first armed action against the Turkish state, the Turkish parliament is working on a law that could crown the ongoing peace process between Ankara and the PKK, transforming the Kurdish freedom movement in Turkey from an armed struggle into a political one.
The PKK, formed in 1978 with the stated aim of advancing the cultural and political rights of Kurds in Turkey, carried out its first armed action against the state on August 15, 1984, when its fighters attacked military posts in two towns in Siirt and Colemerg (Hakkari) provinces in the Kurdish region of southeast Turkey. The group has described the move as the "August 15 Uprising."
Nearly two years ago, the PKK and Ankara initiated a peace process that has largely stayed intact despite slowness and distrust. The talks may have begun behind the scenes much earlier, but the first visible sign was a handshake between Devlet Bahceli - leader of an ultra-nationalist party and an ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan - and pro-Kurdish lawmakers on the floor of parliament in October 2024.
Among the steps taken by the PKK are its decision to dissolve itself and lay down arms, the symbolic burning of some weapons, and its withdrawal from some strategic frontlines. The government, however, has yet to take any concrete steps, deepening distrust among some PKK cadres. If Ankara proceeds with its plan to propose a bill to parliament in the coming days to give the process legal status, it would mark the government's first visible contribution to a process aimed at ending more than four decades of armed conflict that has claimed over 40,000 lives.
'New era'
The Turkish parliament established the National Solidarity, Brotherhood and Democracy Commission last summer, comprising 51 members from most of the country's major political parties, including the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), and the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP).
The commission held meetings with political parties, members of society affected by the conflict, and Abdullah Ocalan, the jailed leader of the PKK. In February this year, it submitted a report to parliament that envisaged legal reforms running alongside the PKK's disarmament to advance the peace process. The joint report passed by a large majority, with 47 of the commission's members voting yes.
The report recommends that non-violent acts and free expression "should not be classified as terrorism" in the framework law and calls 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."
Erdogan welcomed the move, saying he believes it will "accelerate" the process.
But the process reached a stalemate when the US and Israel carried out a military campaign against Iran in late February. The deadlock, which included a pause in meetings between mediators and Ocalan, angered the PKK. In late April, a senior commander of the group accused Ankara of freezing the process.
Ankara has insisted it will not allow any party to sabotage the process, claiming to be serious in its commitment to what it called "Terror-free Turkey."
DEM Party mediators held a "comprehensive" meeting with Ocalan on Monday.
"The time has come to establish a legal foundation that takes mutual sensitivities into account. Being aware that patiently opening this path is a historic opportunity, let us all together build a shared life by abandoning simple, narrow approaches that do not serve the future," a DEM Party statement quoted Ocalan as saying. He added, "Everyone must do their utmost to begin the legal and judicial process, to completely remove conflict and weapons from the equation, and to open a brand-new page."
The next day, Numan Kurtulmus, the Turkish parliamentary speaker, began a series of meetings with the leaders of major political parties on a draft framework law to advance the peace process. He also met with the IYI Party - the only party in parliament that has openly opposed the process and refused to join the parliamentary commission.
Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday about the "framework law" the government plans to propose to parliament, Kurtulmus said it will be a "temporary and standalone law."
He added, "This law will define a critical threshold. In other words, this law must necessarily include a mechanism for the determination and confirmation that the organization has laid down its arms and become dissolved, and this must never take the form of a general amnesty or a personal pardon."
The speaker said he hoped the bill would pass before parliament goes on recess, adding that it will "open the doors to a new era for Turkey."
"We are opening the doors to a new era where weapons are laid down, where Turkish-Kurdish brotherhood is declared forever, until the end of time, where there is no place left for terrorism in minds and hearts, and where the struggle, if it exists at all, will be only in the form of political competition. You can pass this law today, and tomorrow another law may be passed in a different way. But the main thing is that people can continue to have the brotherhood they feel from the heart, the brotherhood we have had throughout history."
Speculation
Justice Minister Akin Gurlek told the state-run TRT Haber on Friday that a 15-article draft will be submitted to parliament next week. He did not reveal the content of the draft but reiterated that it does not include a general amnesty. "This current package only includes a provision concerning PKK members."
The DEM Party spokesperson told reporters on Friday that there is no draft of the bill yet. Speculation has spread widely on social media about the bill's content, though it has yet to be submitted to parliament.
Medyascope, a leading opposition news outlet in Turkey, has reported that Kurdish politicians living in Europe, as well as residents of the Makhmour refugee camp in Iraq's Nineveh province, are expected to be allowed to return to Turkey if the bill passes.
Makhmour camp, located southwest of Erbil, is home to approximately 10,000 Kurdish refugees from southeastern Turkey. Most were displaced by the PKK-Turkey war in the 1990s.
In a message in August 2025, Ocalan said progress in the peace talks would allow Makhmour camp residents to return home. Despite this, residents say pressure on the camp has increased.
The PKK deployed fighters to protect the camp from Islamic State (ISIS) attacks in 2014 but said it withdrew them in October 2023. Turkey has targeted the camp on multiple occasions and has called for its closure.
Medyascope has also suggested that jailed Kurdish politician Selahattin Demirtas and colleagues who have been imprisoned for over a decade on PKK-related charges could be released as well. Some analysts also expect Demirtas' release following the bill's passage.
PKK commanders have insisted that Ocalan be given legal status rather than being defined as the “founder of a terrorist organization”. Bahceli appears open to such a move, but Ankara does not appear willing to do so.
Duran Kalkan, a senior PKK commander, said in a recent interview with Medyascope that the group will never return to armed struggle and is seeking a "democratic" solution, but will not hesitate to defend itself if attacked.
He also said the government's failure to improve prison conditions for Ocalan has weakened trust in the process, and that the legal change will not be accepted unless it includes provisions for the PKK leader's free work, free life, and democratic political activity.
The DEM Party and others have held numerous rallies in Turkey and abroad calling for Ocalan's release, arguing he is entitled to "the right to hope" - a legal principle established by the European Court of Human Rights holding that all prisoners, including those serving life sentences, must have a realistic possibility of sentence review and eventual release.
Cumhuriyet, an opposition news outlet, has reported that the PKK will likely lay down arms on August 15 - the 42nd anniversary of its armed struggle - followed by the passage of the "framework law" the same day.
For a conflict that has spanned more than four decades and claimed tens of thousands of lives, the "framework law" now before parliament represents more than legal text - it is a test of whether Ankara and the PKK can convert a fragile, two-year-old process into something irreversible. For the displaced families of Makhmour, the jailed politicians awaiting review, and communities on both sides who have lived under the shadow of war, the coming weeks may determine whether this becomes the moment the conflict is formally closed, or another stalled promise in a long history of them.
