A Turkish draft law aimed at advancing a peace effort with Kurdish militants passed its first hurdle in parliament on Saturday, with a parliamentary committee approving the measure that includes a conditional pardon-like mechanism for thousands of former fighters. Last year, the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) declared its decision to disarm and disband as part of the peace initiative aimed at ending the decades-long conflict with the Turkish state. The draft legislation, expected to be debated and approved in the general assembly early next week, defines the procedures for the group’s disarmament and the rehabilitation of some PKK members. It would suspend some prison sentences for people convicted of membership in the group and postpone the prosecution of others. The measures would come into effect once Türkiye's National Security Council confirms that the group has disbanded and surrendered all weapons. The conflict has killed tens of thousands of people since it began in the 1980s and has spilled into neighboring Iraq and Syria. Türkiye and its Western allies consider the group a terrorist organization.
