The ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) presented a draft bill to Parliament on Wednesday as the next stage of the landmark terror-free Türkiye initiative, aimed at dissolving the PKK through the reintegration of former members of the terrorist group.
Two years after it informally began, the terror-free Türkiye initiative took a new turn on Wednesday. The ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) submitted a bill to Parliament that is expected to further advance the process. The party began collecting signatures from political parties on Tuesday, and the bill will likely be brought before Parliament for further discussion and an eventual vote. Most parties support the plan. Some 360 signatures were collected from the lawmakers.
Although the contents of the bill, titled the Law on National Solidarity and Social Integration, have not yet been fully unveiled, media reports say it primarily focuses on the return of PKK members from abroad, particularly from northern Iraq, where the group's senior cadres are based. Those senior cadres, however, are expected to be exempt from the planned sentencing leniency for returnees. The law will serve as a framework for processing returning PKK members through the judicial system and facilitating their reintegration into society.
