Türkiye forms parliamentary commission to oversee PKK disarmament
Türkiye's parliament has established a new commission to oversee the disarmament of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), marking a potential turning point in the decades-long conflict that has claimed over 40,000 lives.
The move follows the PKK's announcement in May that it would disband, responding to a call by its jailed leader, Abdullah Ocalan, to end the insurgency. A symbolic step was already taken in July, when 30 PKK fighters burned their weapons during a ceremony in northern Iraq’s Sulaimaniya region, News.Az reports, citing Reuters.
Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmus, speaking at the opening session, said the commission’s task is not only to supervise disarmament but also to prepare legal reforms that could help make peace permanent.
Founded in 1984, the PKK shifted over the years from demanding full independence to seeking broader cultural and political rights for Kurds and limited autonomy in southeastern Türkiye. The group is designated as a terrorist organization by Türkiye and its Western allies.
The newly formed commission includes representatives from all major political parties except the nationalist IYI Party, which refused to participate, arguing that it would legitimize the PKK’s demands. The main opposition CHP joined with the condition that the panel address broader democratisation.
The pro-Kurdish DEM Party, which played a significant role in enabling Ocalan’s peace call, used the first commission session to reiterate its demands for Kurdish cultural and political rights, including mother tongue education and stronger local governance. DEM also called for a review of Ocalan's life sentence.
The initiative was reportedly prompted by a surprise peace proposal last October from Devlet Bahceli, an ultra-nationalist ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
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