Turkey's parliament has approved legislation introducing a conditional pardon for thousands of Kurdish militants, in a bid to advance the government's peace initiative with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Lawmakers voted 468-88 in favour of the measure.
The pardon will only take effect once Turkish authorities have verified that the PKK has fully disarmed. The group announced last year that it was ending its decades-long armed campaign against the Turkish state, following a call from its imprisoned leader, Abdullah Ocalan, and has since staged a symbolic disarmament ceremony in northern Iraq.
The 12-article bill outlines procedures for the group's disarmament and the rehabilitation of thousands of PKK members, suspending some prison sentences and postponing ongoing investigations for five to ten years depending on the severity of alleged offences. Militants convicted of intentional killings, including Ocalan and other senior figures sentenced before 2005, are excluded from the pardon.
Pro-Kurdish DEM party lawmaker Gulistan Kilic Kocyigit told parliament the vote gave "the people of Turkey, who have paid a heavy price for many years... an opportunity to consolidate peace and build democracy," while critics said the bill failed to address broader demands for democratic reform and Kurdish rights.