Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) fighters, who reportedly withdrew from Turkey with their weapons, stand to attention during a ceremony in the Qandil area of northern Iraq, on Oct 26, 2025. [AP Photo/Rashid Yahya, File]
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.”
