DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (AP) — Residents in Turkey’s mainly Kurdish-populated southeastern region reacted with a mix of relief, joy and uncertainty on Tuesday after parliament approved a conditional pardon for thousands of Kurdish militants, offering them a potential path toward integration into normal life in Turkey. Lawmakers on Monday voted overwhelmingly in favor of the legislation that is aimed at advancing a peace effort between the Turkish state and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which waged a long-running insurgency before announcing last year that it would lay down its weapons. The measures, however, will only come into effect after Turkish authorities have verified that the group has fully disarmed.Residents in Diyarbakir, the region’s main city, expressed hope the new law will bring peace — as well as prosperity to a region that has lagged behind economically.
“I was really very happy. I even applauded (the result) in my own home,” said 70-year-old retiree Ali Akdogan. “The economy will improve, good things will happen, people will start doing business.”“I believe it will bring peace,” he continued, noting that since the start of the peace process there have been no deaths related to the conflict, which killed thousands of civilians, soldiers and militants over more than four decades.Hasan Gecti, a 56-year-old shop owner, also said he believes the stability and lack of violence will benefit the region’s people economically and socially but suggested that other matters, such as greater Kurdish rights, have not been addressed.
