The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which is in the process of dissolving, on Sunday denounced what it described as the "mistakes and shortcomings" of a bill governing the future of its fighters, due to be submitted to the Turkish parliament on Monday, while also demanding the release of its historic leader.
"This law contains serious mistakes and shortcomings. The recommendations of the parliamentary committee report" tasked with preparing the legal framework for the peace process "concerning democratisation and the resolution of the Kurdish issue were not taken into account," the PKK leadership said in a statement carried by ANF, a news agency considered close to the Kurdish militant movement.
The group argued that the legislation focuses solely on disarmament while avoiding the wider Kurdish question.
"The fact that the draft law refers only to disarmament, without using the term 'Kurdish', shows that the issue is not being addressed in its entirety."
The PKK also demanded guarantees that fighters who lay down their arms will be able to participate in democratic political life based on freedom of expression and association, without facing imprisonment because of their views.
Ocalan's release
The PKK leadership further stressed that "many of the provisions of the law will remain a dead letter" unless its historic leader, Abdullah Ocalan, 77, is released.
Ocalan has been held in isolation since 1999.
No official clarification has yet been provided regarding his future status, despite the fact that he called on the PKK in 2025 to disarm in response to a peace initiative launched by the Turkish authorities in late 2024.
No general amnesty
The proposed legislation envisages only the partial reintegration into political life of PKK members who lay down their weapons and does not provide for a general amnesty.
The bill, promoted primarily by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the pro-Kurdish DEM Party, would suspend criminal prosecutions and the execution of sentences for certain offences for a period of five to ten years.
If no reoffending occurs during that period, investigations would be closed and sentences considered served, according to provisions of the draft seen by AFP.
However, perpetrators of the most serious crimes, particularly murder, are excluded from the mechanism.
Turkish media close to the government have reported that this exclusion would also apply to Ocalan, who is serving a life sentence.
Demirtas backs proposal
Kurdish opposition politician Selahattin Demirtas, imprisoned since 2016, expressed support for the bill on Sunday.
He said he hoped it would mark a "new critical stage" in what he described as a historic peace effort.
According to the former co-chair of the pro-Kurdish political movement, the legislation
"will radically transform the fate of our country and our region"
after more than four decades of conflict that has claimed at least 50,000 lives, according to conservative estimates.
