Türkiye’s efforts to end PKK violence and remove the discord the terrorist group has sown for over four decades have entered a new phase as the terror-free initiative turns one.

Jailed PKK founder Abdullah Öcalan said Friday the path was open to a "new political era” exactly a year after his historic call to end PKK’s armed struggle under the terror-free Türkiye initiative.

The initiative was first conceived in October 2024 by government ally Devlet Bahçeli.

Following Öcalan’s appeal, the PKK formally disbanded, ending its terror campaign that began in 1984 and killed some 50,000 lives, sowing discord at home and spreading violence across borders into Iraq and Syria.

"The door is opening to a new political era and strategy,” he said in a written statement from Imralı prison where he has been held in solitary confinement since 1999.

"We aim to close the era of violence-based politics and open a process based on democratic society and the rule of law,” urging all segments of Turkish society to engage with the process.

Since his call, the PKK has formally disbanded, held a symbolic arms burning ceremony in northern Iraq where it held its stronghold and withdrawn all members from Turkish soil.

In Ankara, a cross-party parliamentary commission last week published a key report meant to prepare the legal groundwork to advance the process, backing plans to reintegrate former PKK members. Ankara has repeatedly ruled out amnesty for Öcalan or PKK terrorists, with officials saying the legal framework would only consider integration for PKK members who have not engaged in terrorist activities.