A Turkish parliamentary commission's approval of a report setting out a roadmap for legal reforms alongside the disbandment of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group is an important step and the beginning of a fundamental change in Turkish policy, a PKK source told Reuters on Thursday.
Turkey’s Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmus chairs a parliamentary commission set to vote on a draft report aimed at facilitating the disarmament of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), a step that could advance a peace process to end more than four decades of conflict, in Ankara, Turkey, February 18, 2026. Grand National Assembly of Turkey
A Turkish parliamentary commission's approval of a report setting out a roadmap for legal reforms alongside the disbandment of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group is an important step and the beginning of a fundamental change in Turkish policy, a PKK source told Reuters on Thursday.
The commission voted overwhelmingly on Wednesday to approve the report, advancing a peace process designed to end decades of conflict.
"The vote is considered an achievement and an important step toward consolidating democracy in Turkey," said the PKK source.
The PKK - designated a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the United States and European Union - halted attacks last year and said in May it had decided to disband and end its armed struggle.
The parliamentary vote shifts the peace process to the legislative theatre, as President Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey's leader of more than two decades, bids to end a conflict that has killed more than 40,000 people, sown deep discord at home and spread violence across borders into Iraq and Syria.
Reporting by Ahmed Rasheed
The United Arab Emirates' foreign ministry denied on Wednesday a statement by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office that he visited the country and held a secret meeting with its president.
Lebanon has taken an unprecedented step against Iran, filing a formal complaint with the United Nations on 21 April accusing Tehran of interfering in Lebanese sovereign decisions and dragging the country into a "devastating war."
Just two weeks after Turkey's parliament made recommendations on how to advance the country's peace process with Kurdish militants, the Iran war broke out, plunging the Middle East into fresh instability and bringing new doubts on both sides.
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