A newly established parliamentary committee in Türkiye held its first meeting on Tuesday to oversee a peace initiative aimed at ending the decades-long conflict with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), News.az reports citing Xinhua.
The 51-member committee, comprising representatives from most major political parties, is tasked with guiding and overseeing the political and legal aspects of the peace process. The development follows the PKK's recent announcement to disband and renounce armed struggle.
Turkish Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmus, while speaking at the committee's inaugural session, called the initiative a "historic turning point."
"This commission is not an ordinary delegation; it represents the courage to shape our future and the will to strengthen social unity," Kurtulmus said. "We are witnessing the beginning of a new era that reflects the will of the nation," he added.
Following the opening remarks, the session was closed to the press.
The PKK, which has waged an armed campaign against the Turkish state since 1984, initially sought to create an independent Kurdish state but later shifted its demands toward greater autonomy and expanded rights for Kurds within Türkiye.
In a symbolic disarmament ceremony held last month in northern Iraq, PKK fighters began laying down their weapons, the first concrete step in the group's commitment to ending its armed insurgency.
The group's decision to disband came after its imprisoned leader Abdullah Ocalan, jailed since 1999, called on PKK members in February to convene a congress and formally end the armed struggle.
