Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has signed a law introducing a conditional pardon for thousands of members of the militant Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), as part of a peace process between the Turkish state and the militants.
The measure was published in the Turkish Official Gazette today, and will only come into effect after the Turkish National Security Council confirms that the PKK has fully disbanded and disarmed.
Parliament passed the law by a landslide last week.
It suspends certain prison sentences for convicted PKK members and postpones ongoing investigations and trials for five or 10 years, depending on the severity of the crimes.
Authorities would drop proceedings against individuals if they did not repeat the crimes within a specified period.
The law establishes a committee to oversee the group's disarmament, with its first meeting expected next week.
Last year, the PKK, which Turkey and its Western allies consider a terrorist organization, announced its decision to disband following a call from its leader Abdullah Ocalan, who is currently in prison.
Shortly after, some PKK fighters laid down their weapons in a symbolic ceremony in northern Iraq, where the group has a stronghold, and some members were withdrawn from key locations in Turkey to Iraq.
Ocalan and other key PKK figures are not included in the pardons provided for by the new law.
Since the 20s, tens of thousands of people have died in the conflict between the PKK and Turkish security forces.
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