Türkiye's parliament on Monday approved a legal framework for the disarmament and reintegration of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a key step toward ending a decades-long conflict.
Of 562 lawmakers present, 468 voted in favor and 88 against, with six abstentions after nearly 10 hours of debate, highlighting the political sensitivity of the initiative.
The draft legislation, submitted earlier this month, was endorsed by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling alliance and also received backing from the pro-Kurdish DEM Party and other opposition groups.
The government has said the legislation is designed to facilitate the disarmament process than grant a general amnesty.
It allows lower-ranking PKK members not involved in killings or other serious crimes to return to Türkiye from northern Iraq under specified legal conditions, while excluding jailed PKK founder Abdullah Ocalan, senior PKK leaders and those serving aggravated life sentences.
The conflict between the PKK and the Turkish state, which began in 1984, has claimed more than 40,000 lives, according to widely cited estimates.
In May 2025, the PKK announced its decision to disarm and disband, following Ocalan's call to end the armed struggle.
Turkish parliament passes landmark legal framework for PKK disarmament
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday that the U.S. Navy holds "100 percent" control of the Strait of Hormuz, while Iran insists that Washington must meet its demands before reopening the critical waterway.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump asserted that the strait "is actually open now" and "the only one that has control of the Strait of Hormuz right now is the United States Navy".
He described the U.S. naval blockade against Iran as a "steel wall", adding the U.S. military only "lets people in that we want to let in". While acknowledging the situation remains "a little bit complex" due to Iran occasionally dropping mines, Trump claimed that the U.S. Navy has "mine swept the entire strait".
The U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said on Sunday that over 20 U.S. warships have been deployed to the Middle East supporting military missions, including strict enforcement of the U.S. blockade against Iran.
As of that day, the U.S. military had forced 55 merchant vessels to alter their courses, disabled two commercial ships, and boarded and inspected two others, the CENTCOM said in a post on X.
Meanwhile, data from the ship-tracking platform Kpler indicates that traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remained "subdued" over the past week and "weakened further" into the weekend.
Confirmed crossings through the waterway fell from 15 on Friday to 11 on Saturday and just six on Sunday, according to Kpler.
Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, said that the Strait of Hormuz will not be reopened until the United States "corrects its behavior", Iranian media reported Saturday.
Zolghadr noted that the reopening of the strait depends on the United States meeting a series of conditions: it must permanently end the war against Iran and its armed allies in the region; it must stop threatening Iran; it must lift the naval blockade of Iranian ports; it must compensate Iran for war damage; and it must lift sanctions and "unconditionally" release frozen or seized assets.
Trump claims total control of Hormuz as Iran sets terms to reopen strait
