BAGHDAD – A representative from the Kurdistan Workers Party described Turkey’s parliamentary commission decision to endorse a peace plan as a significant breakthrough that signals a major shift in Turkish government policy, according to statements made to Reuters Thursday.
The commission delivered an overwhelming endorsement Wednesday of the comprehensive report, which outlines legal changes paired with the dissolution of the PKK militant organization, moving forward a peace initiative aimed at concluding decades of warfare.
“The vote is considered an achievement and an important step toward consolidating democracy in Turkey,” said the PKK source.
The PKK – classified as a terrorist entity by Turkey, the United States and European Union – suspended its attacks in the previous year and announced in May its intention to dissolve and abandon armed resistance.
Wednesday’s parliamentary decision moves the peace initiative into the legislative arena, as President Tayyip Erdogan, who has led Turkey for over twenty years, works to conclude a conflict responsible for more than 40,000 deaths, creating significant internal division and extending violence beyond Turkey’s borders into Iraq and Syria.
