ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Turkish security forces arrested 10 individuals in Diyarbakir on charges of attending condolence tents held for fallen Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) fighters, the Association of Lawyers for Freedom in Diyarbakir announced on Thursday.

“In Amed (Diyarbakır), 10 citizens were detained this morning on the grounds that they had previously attended condolence tents set up in Kosuyolu Park,” the association wrote in an X post.

A condolence ceremony was held at Kosuyolu Park in Diyarbakır’s Baglar district a week ago for 49 PKK members who were killed in various theaters of conflict at different times in the decades-long fight against the Turkish state.

“Such actions, carried out at a time when the strengthening of the peace and democratic society process is expected following the framework law, are contrary to the spirit of the process,” the association noted.

The Turkish parliament adopted a bill in August establishing a legal framework for determining the status of former PKK members as part of efforts to advance the ongoing peace process, marking a significant step toward ending a conflict that claimed tens of thousands of lives.

The body asserted that the process “cannot be carried out through detentions, repression, and the restriction of citizens' fundamental rights and freedoms,” adding that criminalizing citizens for attending condolence ceremonies “at a time when the will for peace needs to be strengthened is unacceptable.”

It called for those “unjustly detained” to be “released immediately!”

Despite the advancement of the peace process and the halting of the PKK's four-decade-long campaign against the Turkish state by the leader Abdullah Ocalan’s 2025 February disarmament call, many observers have remained skeptical of the next steps, citing legal ambiguities and a lack of clarity.

The bill does not establish a general amnesty for former PKK fighters. Instead, it aims to establish legal procedures for matters involving the postponement of certain sentences and the handling of ongoing prosecutions, according to Turkish state media.