Turkey lawmakers begin debating Kurdish peace bill

Turkish lawmakers on Monday began debating a bill that would offer limited amnesty for Kurdish militant PKK fighters in a first legislative step to end decades of deadly violence.

The move comes nearly two years after Ankara extended a shock olive branch to Abdullah Ocalan, the jailed leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which began an armed uprising against Turkey in 1984.

The text, which should be adopted later on Monday, envisages a return to civilian life for some of the PKK fighters who lay down their weapons without granting a total amnesty.

But it does not specify what will become of Ocalan, 77, who has spent the past 27 years being held in solitary confinement on Imrali prison island near Istanbul.

Ocalan has responded favorably to the peace initiative, pressing his fighters to renounce the armed struggle and lay down their weapons.

Backed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the pro-Kurdish DEM party, the bill would suspend prosecutions and prison sentences for some offences between five and 10 years.

If those covered by the measure do not reoffend during that period, investigations would be dropped and sentences considered served.

But anyone involved in serious crimes such as murder would be excluded -- in a measure which Turkey's pro-government media have said must apply to Ocalan.

Excluding Ocalan would be a red line for the group, however, with the PKK on Sunday criticizing the bill as containing "serious errors and shortcomings" and warning many of its provisions would remain a "dead letter" if Ocalan was not freed.

"The recommendations... regarding democratization and the resolution of the Kurdish issue have not been taken into account," the leadership said in a statement.

"The fact it refers only to disarmament without using the term 'Kurdish' shows the issue has not been addressed in its entirety," the PKK leadership added.

Last year, the PKK announced it was disbanding following a call by Ocalan, with its militants in July 2025 participating in a historic disarmament ceremony as they began symbolically destroying their weapons.