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Türkiye’s security bureaucracy is preparing for a roughly two-month process in which terrorist organization PKK members would surrender weapons, leave caves and hand over logistical equipment as part of the “Terror-Free Türkiye” initiative, according to a report by Türkiye daily's Yucel Kayaoglu.
The process would begin after a proposed framework law on strengthening national solidarity and social integration is enacted, with the National Intelligence Organization, or MIT, coordinating key stages.
Security officials envisage a period of about 1.5 to two months for PKK members to lay down their weapons, evacuate caves and surrender all logistical materials, according to the report.
PKK ringleader Abdullah Ocalan is also expected to issue a call shortly urging members to hand over all weapons to the relevant authorities and return to Türkiye. The organization’s leadership in Qandil is expected to make a statement within days concerning the caves from which its members have withdrawn.
If the disarmament process is completed by the end of September and the National Security Council, or MGK, adopts a decision confirming it, implementation of the framework law would begin in October.
MIT and other relevant institutions have been holding contacts with the Iraqi central government, the northern Iraqi administration and the Syrian government over where and how weapons would be surrendered, the report said.
PKK members in Iraq would apply to special units established at Türkiye’s diplomatic missions in Erbil and Sulaymaniyah. Weapons would also be handed over at designated centers in those two locations.
In addition to firearms, drones, paramotors and satellite communication systems held by the PKK would be surrendered to authorities. MIT has prepared an inventory covering the equipment, according to the report.
Applications made to Turkish diplomatic missions, including those in Europe, would be assessed jointly by the Foreign Ministry, the Defense Ministry, the Justice Ministry and MIT.
Applicants would then be informed whether they qualify for sentence postponements under the framework law and what legal procedures would apply to them.
Those returning to Türkiye would still be subject to judicial proceedings. Individuals meeting the required conditions could have their sentences postponed and be released.
PKK members granted sentence postponements would not be subjected to standard judicial-control measures such as reporting to police stations, house arrest or bans on traveling abroad.
Instead, authorities would establish a special monitoring mechanism to determine whether those individuals commit further crimes.
Sentence-postponement decisions involving PKK members benefiting from the law would be recorded in a dedicated system overseen by chief public prosecutors’ offices.
The Interior Ministry and MIT would also monitor those covered by the measure. Authorities would intervene if links to criminal organizations or attempts to establish new organizations were detected.
If an individual committed a new crime, the sentence postponement would be revoked and the original sentence would be enforced.
Security sources assess that about 180 to 200 senior PKK figures in Qandil, along with roughly 1,000 other members, would not return to Türkiye because they would not qualify for sentence reductions.
Senior figures including Fehman Huseyin, also known as Bahoz Erdal, Murat Karayilan, Cemil Bayik, Duran Kalkan and Bese Hozat would remain outside the scope of the arrangement.
The framework would also cover certain people currently imprisoned for membership in the organization, knowingly and willingly assisting it, conducting propaganda on its behalf, offenses committed as part of its activities and crimes covered by the Law on the Prevention of Financing of Terrorism.
Once an MGK decision confirming that weapons have been laid down is published in the Official Gazette, the cases of imprisoned PKK members would be reviewed on the files by the relevant execution judges.
Those deemed eligible could have their sentences postponed and be released.
The number of PKK members currently in prison is estimated at between 4,000 and 4,500, according to the report.
Prisoners serving aggravated life sentences and those convicted of intentional killing would be excluded. Sentence postponements for the remaining eligible prisoners would be determined according to the amount of time they have already served.
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