Turkish Parliament Passes Historic Framework Law Aimed at Ending PKK Conflict

Turkiye’s parliament passed a long anticipated framework law tied to the government’s Terrorism Free Turkiye process on Monday, with 468 lawmakers voting in favour, 88 against and 6 abstaining in a vote officials and party leaders across the political spectrum described as historic.
The bill, formally titled the Law on Strengthening National Solidarity and Social Integration, cleared the Grand National Assembly’s General Assembly after roughly twelve hours of debate that began at 11 a.m. and concluded shortly after 10:30 p.m. Of the 562 lawmakers who cast a vote, support came from the governing AK Party and MHP, along with the DEM Party, the Yeni Party, Yeni Yol, HUDA PAR, TIP and EMEP. The opposition IYI Party voted against the bill, while the Yeniden Refah Party abstained, and at least 30 of the Yeni Party’s 91 lawmakers broke with their party’s leadership to vote no.
The twelve article bill follows the report of parliament’s National Solidarity, Brotherhood and Democracy Commission, which began its work on August 5, 2025, a year to the day before the bill was formally submitted to parliament’s speaker with the signatures of 367 lawmakers. The commission heard from nearly 140 people over the course of its work before completing its report, which then moved through roughly 18 hours of committee review on August 8 before reaching Monday’s floor vote.
Party leaders including MHP chairman Devlet Bahceli and DEM Party co chair Tuncer Bakirhan attended the session in person. Yeni Party leader Ozgur Ozel, whose party split on the vote, told the chamber that his party would not place its own objections ahead of what he called the nation’s right to peace.
Under the bill’s terms, its provisions will not take effect immediately. The National Security Council must first formally determine and confirm that the PKK and any affiliated structures have dissolved and fully surrendered their weapons, a determination that officials expect to take roughly two months and which must be published in the Official Gazette. A six month window for the law’s mechanisms to apply would then begin, with the legislation expected to take effect around October following that confirmation process.
If debate on the bill’s remaining provisions were not completed Monday, parliament had been prepared to continue sitting through Tuesday and Wednesday before its scheduled recess. With Monday’s passage, parliament’s work on the bill is now complete.