Turkiye readies law to repatriate thousands of exiled PKK fighters: Report
The law will come as part of a reconciliation process launched earlier this year between Ankara and the Kurdish militant group
The Turkish government is preparing to enact a law that will allow thousands of exiled Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) fighters to return to their country, informed sources told Reuters on 7 November.
A senior regional official and a Kurdish political source said “the proposed law would protect those returning home but stop short of offering a general amnesty for crimes committed by former militants.”
“Some militant leaders could be sent to third countries under the plans,” the sources added.
The law would bring back fighters who, for years, have been exiled and have operated from bases and hideouts in the mountainous regions of northern Iraq. Their families would also be repatriated.
There are “proposals for returns to take place in separate waves of civilians and fighters, and for commanders to be sent to third countries,” the sources claimed.
“Legislation to allow the returns could come before the Turkish parliament as soon as this month,” the regional official is cited as saying.
The law will come as part of the reconciliation process launched earlier this year between Ankara and the PKK, which have been sworn foes since the 1980s.
The PKK has operated from northern Iraq for decades. As a result, Turkish army forces have established a military presence in the country and have operated against Kurdish fighters there since the 1980s.
In Syria, the PKK is closely linked to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). This US-backed Kurdish militia was formed in 2015 to help Washington oversee its occupation of the country’s oil and wheat fields.
The Turkish army also occupies northern Syria and has operated against the SDF for years.
In February, PKK chief Abdullah Ocalan – who has been in a Turkish prison for decades – announced an end to the Kurdish group’s armed struggle and called on its fighters to hand over their weapons.
On 1 March, the PKK declared an immediate ceasefire in its insurgency against the Turkish state, in line with Ocalan’s call. PKK fighters began laying down their arms in July.
"Once Turkey’s security and intelligence units have verified and confirmed that the organization has truly laid down its arms and completed its dissolution process, the country will enter a new phase of legal regulations aimed at building a terror-free Turkey," Numan Kurtulmus, head of a Turkish reconciliation commission set up by Ankara in August, told Reuters on Friday.