{"id":17605,"date":"2026-02-18T18:27:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T18:27:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/17605\/"},"modified":"2026-02-18T18:27:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T18:27:09","slug":"turkish-mps-back-steps-to-reintegrate-former-pkk-militants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/17605\/","title":{"rendered":"Turkish MPs back steps to reintegrate former PKK militants"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Kurdish militants who have laid down their arms should be reintegrated into society, Turkish lawmakers said in a key report released Wednesday, while avoiding any reference to an \u201camnesty,\u201d Agence France-Presse reported.<\/p>\n

The recommendations of the cross-party parliamentary commission are meant to prepare the legal groundwork for peace moves between Turkey and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers\u2019 Party (PKK).<\/p>\n

Last year the PKK formally renounced its armed struggle against Turkey after four decades of violence that claimed some 40,000 lives on both sides.<\/p>\n

The commission\u2019s 50 lawmakers are to vote on the report later Wednesday, which will then be put to the Turkish parliament for approval before becoming law.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe law should seek the reintegration of individuals who reject weapons and violence into society,\u201d the report said, while stressing that the \u201clegal regulations should not create a perception of impunity and amnesty.\u201d<\/p>\n

It made no reference to the fate of the PKK\u2019s jailed founder Abdullah \u00d6calan, who has led efforts to end the conflict from his cell on \u0130mral\u0131 island near \u0130stanbul where he has been held since 1999.<\/p>\n

An easing of his prison conditions \u2014 and ultimately his release \u2014 has been a key demand of the PKK, which last year announced its dissolution followed by a highly symbolic weapons-burning ceremony.<\/p>\n

The report also called for steps to strengthen Turkish democracy, notably for a revision of terrorism laws to \u201cstrengthen freedom of expression.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNon-violent acts should not be classified as terrorism, and actions that should fall within the scope of freedom of expression should not be considered terrorism,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n

\u2018Compliance\u2019 with ECtHR rulings<\/p>\n

The pro-Kurdish Peoples\u2019 Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), Turkey\u2019s third-biggest party, a key player in facilitating the peace moves, has pushed hard for Turkey to ease conditions for \u00d6calan and others arrested for political reasons during the conflict.<\/p>\n

The report also recommended legislation regarding prisoners\u2019 sentences and conditions for release \u201cbe reviewed with a fairer and more equitable approach.\u201d<\/p>\n

It stressed \u201cthe importance of full compliance with decisions of the European Court of Human Rights,\u201d saying mechanisms to ensure compliance \u201cmust be strengthened\u201d and \u201cadministrative obstacles\u201d removed.<\/p>\n

It was understood to be a reference to a binding ECtHR ruling ordering Turkey to release Kurdish leader Selahattin Demirta\u015f, who has been jailed since 2016 on \u201cterror related offences\u201d largely seen as political.<\/p>\n

The commission, which held its first meeting on August 5, was chaired by parliamentary speaker Numan Kurtulmus, who said Turkey was going through \u201ca historic period.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA lasting solution to Turkey\u2019s terrorism problem necessitates multifaceted\u2026 and comprehensive policies that are not limited to the security dimension alone,\u201d he said while presenting the report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kurdish militants who have laid down their arms should be reintegrated into society, Turkish lawmakers said in a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17606,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[83],"tags":[8655,5953,5954,12003,5956,12598,8658,131,132,2272,155],"class_list":{"0":"post-17605","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-stockholm","8":"tag-abdullah-ocalan","9":"tag-kurdish-issue","10":"tag-kurdistan-workers-party-pkk","11":"tag-national-solidarity-brotherhood-and-democracy-commission","12":"tag-peace-initiative","13":"tag-reintegration-of-pkk-militants","14":"tag-right-to-hope","15":"tag-stockholm","16":"tag-sweden","17":"tag-terrorism","18":"tag-turkey"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17605","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17605"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17605\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17606"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17605"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17605"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17605"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}