Turkey’s Kurdish peace process moves to implementation: What to know and what’s next

ANKARA — Turkey’s peace process with Kurdish militants has entered an implementation phase this week, with authorities setting up working groups to verify the disarmament of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and decide further legal and civil steps.

Turkey’s official body tasked with monitoring implementation of the peace process with the PKK held its first meeting on Monday. The militant group, which waged an armed insurgency against Turkey since 1984 for Kurdish self-rule inside the country, announced in May 2025 that it would disband and dissolve itself as part of ongoing peace talks the Turkish government launched in 2024.

Following Monday’s meeting, chaired by Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz and attended by other senior officials including Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Defense Minister Yasar Guler and intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin, the board decided to form four working groups to oversee different parts of the implementation of the peace process, which the government calls “Terror-Free Turkey.”

The meeting marked the first major administrative step under the framework law that went into effect last week to end Europe's longest armed conflict, which claimed tens of thousands of lives on both sides. 

The meeting "is a clear indication that the process is moving forward with firm steps,” PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan said in a written statement shared by Turkey’s pro-Kurdish Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party on Tuesday. “The process has reached a critical stage.”

Ocalan, who has been imprisoned in Turkey since 1999 and is serving a life sentence without parole, remains the main interlocutor in Ankara’s talks with the PKK. 

The PKK decided to dissolve itself in May 2025 after Ocalan called on the group in February to disband and lay down its weapons. DEM, Turkey’s third-largest political party and the country’s main Kurdish political movement, has also been acting as an intermediary between the government and Ocalan.

The four working groups will cover legal issues, monitoring progress, social reintegration and disarmament, according to a statement issued after the meeting.

First peace talks law

Turkey’s parliament approved the first legal framework for implementation of the peace process on Aug. 10. The legislation passed with broad cross-party support, with 467 of 592 lawmakers voting in favor. 

The 12-provision law introduces a conditional amnesty for people accused or convicted of establishing or leading the PKK, membership in the group, assisting it, spreading its propaganda, financing terrorism or committing other offenses as part of PKK activities.

In addition to militants, dozens of Kurdish politicians, journalists and activists remain behind bars for propaganda offenses.

Under the law, prison sentences for those convicted would be suspended, while ongoing investigations and trials for those accused of any of the above-mentioned crimes would be put on hold for 5-10 years. 

If they commit no terrorism-related offenses during that period, their suspended sentences will be considered served and pending cases will be dropped.

The law excludes militants convicted of intentional killings and those sentenced to life without parole for offenses committed before 2005 also fall outside its scope, meaning Ocalan himself would not benefit from the legislation.

The law conditions the amnesty measures on the PKK and all affiliated organizations ending their activities and effective existence as well as surrendering all weapons and ammunition under their control, and Turkish security institutions formally verifying that those conditions have been met.

That verification is to be submitted to the National Security Council, which is chaired by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and meets every two months. Once the council confirms the findings and publishes its decision, convicted individuals and those under investigation will have six months to apply for amnesty under the law. 

What’s next

The first test will be whether Turkish authorities determine that the PKK and all of its affiliates have fully dissolved and disarmed. The verification process is planned to be completed within two months, independent Turkish news outlet T24 reported last week, with the National Security Council expected to announce its findings at its October meeting.

The Monitoring and Disarmament and Strategic Coordination working groups established at Monday’s meeting will be directly involved in the verification process, while the legal affairs and social integration groups will focus on the legal and reintegration measures that will follow.

In a statement after parliament passed the law, the PKK said the legislation was only “a first step” and called for broader democratic reforms, including legal arrangements that will allow former militants to participate in democratic politics. 

Among other key demands are greater protections for Kurdish identity and language rights as well as Ocalan's release from prison.