Turkish Parliament Approves Pardon Law for Thousands of Disarming PKK Fighters

Turkey's parliament passed legislation on Monday creating a legal framework for the disbandment of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, voting 468 to 88 in the 600-seat chamber with backing from Erdogan's AK Party, its nationalist MHP allies and the pro-Kurdish DEM Party. The 12-article law suspends some prison sentences and postpones investigations and trials for five or 10 years depending on the severity of the offenses, dropping the cases if no terror-related crime follows. Militants convicted of intentional killings and those sentenced to life before 2005 are excluded, which covers Ocalan and other senior PKK figures. It takes effect only after Turkish authorities verify the group has fully disarmed.