The ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) complains that although the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) appears to have a balanced approach to the terror-free Türkiye initiative, it is also behind “a massive wave of lies and disinformation.”
The party’s deputy chair, Ahmet Büyükgümüş, told Anadolu Agency (AA) on Thursday that the CHP’s central administration differed from local branches, which he accused of spreading lies and disinformation. “As the AK Party, we are fighting these lies and defamation,” he stated.
The terror-free Türkiye initiative launched by government ally Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli involves disarmament of the PKK terrorist group. The PKK is responsible for the killing of tens of thousands of people since the 1980s in its campaign of violence, under the pretext of founding a self-styled “Kurdish state” in southeastern Türkiye. Disarming the PKK is a highly divisive issue for Türkiye, although opinion polls show the public supports the initiative. Critics of the plan claim it is a betrayal of victims of PKK terrorism and portray it as a bargaining process with the PKK. Authorities, however, deny that any negotiations for disarmament are out of the question.
Büyükgümüş said one of the lies perpetuated was the release of Abdullah Öcalan, the jailed ringleader of the PKK. Öcalan, in response to Bahçeli’s call last year, ordered the PKK to dissolve itself last February. The PKK agreed to the dissolution last spring and subsequently launched the disarmament process, which is expected to be fully completed in 2026. Büyükgümüş denied that the release of Öcalan (in exchange for the PKK’s disarmament) was on the agenda and it was “not even discussed.”
Last summer, the AK Party launched a nationwide campaign to explain the initiative to the public. The party’s senior officials, as well as ministers, met families of terror victims, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and others during field trips to 81 provinces to explain the details of the initiative. Büyükgümüş said they explained to the public that this was not a bargaining process and that they were not pushing the initiative for political interests.
