Infaz: What to know about Turkey’s imminent legal reforms package

DEM Party Group Dep. Chair Gülistan Kılıç Koçyiğit spoke to press Monday. © DEM

ANKARA — A much-discussed omnibus bill known as the ‘10th judicial package’ will soon be introduced in Turkish parliament, and lawmakers are expected to pass it before the Kurban Bayramı holiday on Friday, Jun. 6.

Central to the anticipated reforms are ‘infaz’ laws, or laws relating to the ‘enforcement of prison sentences’ or ‘execution of prison sentences’.

Changes to enforcement laws, as we’ll call them, are part of the ongoing PKK-Turkey peace process, which includes concessions on improved conditions for political prisoners – many of which are part of the Kurdish rights movement – in exchange for the PKK’s disarmament and dissolution.

Following negotiations between the ruling AKP-MHP alliance and the pro-Kurdish DEM Party, the draft proposals are expected any day now. Though preparations have been slowed by concerns that the reforms may also apply to prisoners jailed on Gülen movement-related charges, according to T24.

Once introduced, legal experts and lawmakers told Turkey recap they expect the proposed reforms to include an expansion of conditional release measures and possible changes to Turkey’s anti-terror laws.