Turkey's Erdogan signs law offering conditional pardon for thousands of PKK militants

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ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has signed into law a measure that would introduce a conditional pardon for thousands of Kurdish militants as part of a government peace effort with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK.

The measure was published in the Official Gazette on Tuesday. It will only come into force after Turkey’s National Security Council confirms that the group has fully dissolved itself and disarmed.

Parliament approved the bill overwhelmingly last week. It would suspend certain prison sentences for convicted PKK members and postpone ongoing investigations and trials against others for five or 10 years, depending on the severity of the crime. Authorities would drop the cases against the individuals if they don’t re-offend during those periods.

The legislation also establishes a committee to oversee the group’s disarmament, with its first meeting expected next week.

Last year, the PKK — considered a terrorist organization by Turkey and its Western allies — announced its decision to disband, following a call by its imprisoned leader, Abdullah Ocalan. Ocalan and other key PKK figures are excluded from the pardon.

Soon after that, some fighters laid down their weapons in a symbolic ceremony in northern Iraq, where the group is based, and withdrew some fighters from key locations in Turkey to Iraq.

The conflict with the PKK has killed tens of thousands of people since the 1980s.