BAGHDAD, Feb 19 (Reuters) – 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; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)
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