Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş said on Thursday that the parliamentary National Solidarity, Brotherhood and Democracy Committee is nearing completion of a report that he hopes will be agreed upon by all sides and shared with the public in the near future.
Speaking to journalists in Ankara during a visit marking Jan. 10, the country’s Working Journalists’ Day, Kurtulmuş said the report prepared by the National Solidarity, Brotherhood and Democracy Commission is in its final stage and could be released to the public in the near future without any dissenting opinions.
“I hope that in the not-too-distant future, a strong text that everyone agrees on, without any opposition reservations, will be shared with the public,” Kurtulmuş remarked.
Kurtulmuş visited parliamentary reporters in the press corridor of the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye, where he also met with representatives of the Parliament Correspondents Association. He congratulated journalists on their day and praised parliamentary reporters for their role in strengthening democratic accountability.
Responding to questions about the timeline for the commission’s report, Kurtulmuş described the body as an important indicator of democratic maturity. He thanked political parties and lawmakers for their contributions, noting that the commission had listened to a wide range of views from across society.
He said the commission has operated with democratic participation and political maturity and has now entered its final phase. According to Kurtulmuş, political parties have submitted their own assessments and position papers, identifying areas of both consensus and disagreement.
“There are points where parties agree and others where they differ,” he said. “From now on, we will work very carefully to expand the areas of agreement and, where possible, reach consensus on remaining differences to finalize the report.”
Kurtulmuş noted that representatives of parties with parliamentary groups have held two meetings so far and that all participants have shown goodwill and a commitment to compromise.
He added that the commission’s work will be advisory in nature. Any legislative proposals, particularly those related to future legal steps following the verified laying down of weapons by the group in question, would be submitted to Parliament’s General Assembly for debate and decision.
“The rest will be the responsibility of the Parliament,” he concluded.
The committee was formed in August to tackle the terror-free Türkiye initiative for the disarmament of the PKK terrorist group. It is expected to lay out a road map to Parliament for legislative or other regulations for the next stage of the initiative. The PKK’s disarmament has been a unilateral process, but political parties participating in the committee suggested that new regulations may be enacted to facilitate the process, especially lenient sentencing for PKK members not involved in acts of terrorism.
