Turkish Parliamentary Committee Approves Bill Aimed at Advancing Peace Process

Middle East Online

Turkish Parliament.

The Justice Committee of the Turkish Parliament approved a bill on Saturday aimed at strengthening national solidarity and social integration, with the stated goal of promoting peace and long-term stability. The legislation has now been formally referred to the parliamentary presidency to be placed on the agenda for debate and a vote in the full assembly.

During the committee's deliberations, MP Dilan Kunt Ayan of the Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM) called for an amendment to Article 4, stressing the importance of ensuring women's representation on the executive committees that will be established to oversee the implementation of the law.

Political observers say the committee's approval marks a potentially significant development in efforts to address the Kurdish issue. They argue that the proposed legislation could shift the decades-long conflict from a framework of armed confrontation towards a legal and political process, opening the way for dialogue and institutional reform.

Turkish lawmakers on Wednesday signed the legislature's long-awaited final draft of the legal framework for the peace process with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), with pro-Kurdish DEM Party describing it as a “historic step” towards resolving the Kurdish question in Türkiye. 

According to Turkish state media, the proposed legislation would apply to individuals who notify the authorities in writing of their intention to benefit from its provisions within six months of the National Security Council confirming that the PKK has completely ended its activities, surrendered its weapons and ammunition, and ceased to exist as an active organisation.

The bill does not provide for a general amnesty for former PKK members. Instead, it establishes a legal framework governing the postponement of certain prison sentences and the handling of ongoing prosecutions, according to state media.

The legislation also excludes serious offences committed before 2005 that carried the death penalty or life imprisonment, as well as intentional killings carried out as part of organisational activities. The exclusions were outlined by AK Party Deputy Chairman Abdulhamit Gül during the Justice Committee's deliberations, according to the Turkish Parliament.

The latest developments follow nearly six months of limited progress in establishing the legal framework for the peace process, despite the PKK having agreed during that period to dissolve the organisation and withdraw from several of its military bases.

The peace initiative began in October 2024 at the urging of MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli. The process seeks to end a conflict between the PKK and the Turkish state that has claimed at least 50,000 lives since the group launched its armed campaign in 1984.

On 11 July 2025, about 30 fighters from the PKK symbolically laid down and burned their weapons in a cave near Sulaymaniyah. This event marked the first concrete step in ending a four-decade armed conflict against Türkiye.



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