Turkey passes limited PKK amnesty law

Turkish lawmakers voted on Monday to approve a limited amnesty law for some Kurdish PKK militants who lay down their weapons, marking Turkey's first legislative step in a peace process aimed at ending decades of deadly violence.

After 12 hours of debate, lawmakers backed the measure by 468 votes to 88, with six abstentions.

The law, described by its backers as the “terror-free Turkey law,” allows some PKK fighters to return to civilian life without granting a total amnesty. It suspends prosecutions and prison sentences for some offences for between five and 10 years. If those covered do not reoffend during that period, investigations would be dropped and sentences considered served.

Lawmakers said the first phase is expected to involve the release of around 3,500 PKK-linked detainees, about a third of those held in Turkish prisons. People involved in serious crimes such as murder are excluded.

The text does not say what will happen to Abdullah Ocalan, the 77-year-old jailed founder of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, who has spent 27 years in solitary confinement on Imrali prison island near Istanbul.

Ocalan issued a call in February 2025 for his fighters to disarm and use democratic means to defend the rights of Turkey's Kurdish minority. Turkey's Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz told CNN Turk last week that Ocalan's case did not fall within the scope of the law, but said he would be in a position to contribute to the peace process without giving details.

The bill was backed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling Justice and Development Party and the pro-Kurdish DEM party. Yilmaz called the vote a historic step and said the size of the majority showed political consensus.

Devlet Bahceli, head of the hardline nationalist MHP and a close Erdogan ally, also welcomed the vote. DEM lawmaker Ceylan Akca said Turkey was crossing a historic threshold and called the measure a first step toward equality.

The government stressed before the vote that the measure was not a general amnesty. Opposition lawmaker Turhan Comez of the nationalist Iyi party criticised the process, asking how the government could negotiate with terrorists.

In May last year, the PKK announced it was disbanding after Ocalan's call. Two months later, militants took part in a disarmament ceremony in the mountains of northern Iraq. The PKK leadership has warned that excluding Ocalan from the legislation would be a red line and said many provisions would remain ineffective if he were not freed.