The leader of the government ally Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) said on Tuesday that it was merely a matter of time before the PKK terrorist group abandons its weapons. Devlet Bahçeli, architect of the terror-free Türkiye initiative, told a parliamentary group meeting of his party in Ankara that the plan had now become a state policy, and they would persist in supporting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to fully achieve the plan.

The PKK will likely start the disarmament process on Thursday or Friday, according to unconfirmed reports. The group is planning a ceremonial disarmament in northern Iraq, about two months after it announced that it would dissolve itself. Bahçeli has reached out to the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), which is linked to the PKK, in 2024 and informally launched the initiative. He also urged the PKK's jailed leader, Abdullah Öcalan, to persuade the group to lay down its arms. Öcalan in February accepted Bahçeli’s proposal and through a delegation of DEM Party lawmakers, issued a message for the PKK’s dissolution.

Bahçeli said Türkiye was "right in the middle of a historic process,” noting that Turkish intelligence would oversee the PKK’s handover of weapons.

"We are transitioning to a peaceful future after learning lessons from our past.

"Our terror-free Türkiye goal will be the momentum of Türkiye’s rise in the new century, our brotherhood and peace,” he said.

"We will serve the goal of cementing Turkish-Kurdish brotherhood within this nation,” he added. For decades, the PKK recruited members from the Kurdish community and sought to exploit the problems related to deprivation of rights for Kurds, justifying its attacks that killed thousands as a fight for a self-styled Kurdistan.

"The head of state is tasked with achieving a terror-free Türkiye. Thus, we will always back Mr. President to that extent. We will not abandon him. We will crown the new century with a terror-free Türkiye,” the MHP leader said. He said they were also "on alert” against those seeking to incite strife on the path to terror-free Türkiye.

The initiative’s next phase is expected to be more public, unlike previous steps that have often been under wraps due to the sensitive nature of the issue, for security reasons. In the coming weeks, the Turkish Parliament is expected to set up a committee to oversee the process, such as legal repercussions of the initiative. In the meantime, the National Intelligence Organization (MIT) apparently accelerated efforts in the initiative. MIT chief Ibrahim Kalın was scheduled to leave for Baghdad later Tuesday for talks with central government officials. He earlier held talks in Irbil, the seat of Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), which controls a region where the PKK’s senior leadership is in hiding. Disarmament will also take place in KRG-controlled Sulaymaniyah, according to media reports.

Coup-minded CHP

In his speech, Bahçeli also raised concerns about the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) that he likened to a "diseased tree,” and CHP leader Özgür Özel’s provocative "call to the streets.” Özel faces a criminal investigation over his remarks on July 5, in which he threatened to take CHP supporters to the streets "like in Egypt,” in a clear reference to the ouster of strongman Hosni Mubarak during the Arab Spring protests. Prosecutors seek to lift his immunity and send his case before Parliament, which will likely decide on the matter in the coming days.

The CHP is embattled with allegations of corruption in many municipalities run by its mayors, particularly Istanbul. Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu, a future presidential candidate of the party, was arrested on charges of corruption and is accused of running a criminal network at municipalities thriving on bribes and tender rigging.

Bahçeli said the CHP has evolved into an organized crime network. "Investigators uncover illegitimate, immoral relations at every corner. Their dirty laundry is out there. The CHP is entangled in scandals. It is a diseased tree that fails to sprout blossoms despite spring,” the MHP leader said.

He urged the judiciary to wrap up indictments against CHP-linked names swiftly so that justice would prevail. "I trust in prosecutors who work around the clock,” he said.

Bahçeli said they agreed with Özel upon his call for a live broadcast of hearings in trials over corruption. "Thus, the nation will see the truth,” he added.

On Özel’s call, Bahçeli said Türkiye was "a free country like his name,” referring to the Turkish meaning of Özel’s first name.

"I see you have anger issues; you can’t handle the stress. You can go out, walk on the street. Nobody stops you,” he told in his address to Özel in his speech.

"Let’s see what you are going to do on the streets and how you will be responded to,” Bahçeli said.

"If this leads you to a commitment to a crime, you will find the Turkish republic, the Turkish nation standing against you,” he said.

Türkiye is accustomed to coups and coup attempts, but in 2016, the Turkish public, for the first time, actively resisted putschists, staving off a junta controlled by military infiltrators of the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ).

"I wonder if Mr. Özgür is thinking about a coup, whether he wants to do what he failed to do at elections by resorting to weapons,” Bahçeli said.

"This is a rotten, anti-democratic rhetoric,” he added.