Kurdish resolution reform takes effect after president’s approval

A reform bill which gives a legal framework to the government-led peace process with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) has come into effect after it was published in the Official Gazette on July 16 following President Abdullah Gül’s approval.

The six-article bill, titled “Draft Law to End Terror and Strengthen Social Integration,” is seen as historic by many as the first legal step to frame the ongoing resolution process for the decades-old Kurdish question.
 
The opposition criticized the timing of the passage of the law, hinting it was a gesture from the government to the Kurds on the eve of presidential elections in which Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan needs Kurdish votes to secure his victory.

With the law, the government is authorized to determine “the measures to be taken in the fields of security, disarmament, and human rights, as well as political, legal, socio-economic, psychological and cultural steps.” It also brings limited immunity to those who “make contact, establish dialogue and meet with individuals, institutions and organizations both inside and outside the country.”

Government is also authorized to “take necessary measures for those who drop their weapons and return home, accommodating their participation in social life.”

Monitoring the works conducted within the frame of the law and providing necessary coordination among relevant institutions and organizations and providing information to the public about works conducted within the frame of the law are also among the authorities given to the government.