After convincing the PKK terrorist group to lay down arms, Türkiye is now ironing out the technicalities of the next stage of the terror-free Türkiye initiative.
Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş stated on Sunday that a parliamentary committee on the matter will commence work in August, as parties have begun announcing the names of lawmakers who will join the committee.
The committee will be comprised of 51 parliamentarians. The ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) will be represented by 21 members; its ally, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), and the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM) will contribute four lawmakers each; and the main opposition, the Republican People’s Party (CHP), will have 10 lawmakers on the committee, media outlets reported over the weekend. Reports say the committee would be eligible to suggest draft bills if 31 lawmakers approve it.
Its work will concentrate on the state of PKK terrorists who abandoned arms and those who were incarcerated for aiding and abetting the PKK. The PKK is still regarded as a terrorist group, and the committee will likely debate about its future status once the group fully abandons arms. Earlier this month, some 30 PKK members, including a senior leader, burned their weapons in a ceremony in northern Iraq. Although symbolic, the gesture marked the first time that the group practically laid down arms in its campaign of violence for more than four decades. The PKK has previously announced so-called unilateral truces but has never entirely given up its ambitions.
The terror-free Türkiye initiative launched by MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli had its first tangible progress in February when PKK’s jailed ringleader Abdullah Öcalan accepted Bahçeli’s call and urged the group to lay down arms. In May, the PKK announced it would dissolve itself.
Along with major parties, smaller ones have also agreed to contribute to the committee, and they are required to declare the names of their lawmakers to the head of Parliament by Thursday. Kurtulmuş will chair the committee but will not be eligible for voting on its decisions. The committee, the only one operating at the Parliament, which recently began its summer recess, will convene four times weekly at most and will debate reports presented by intelligence and security units monitoring the PKK’s disarmament.
Media reports say the committee will chart a road map for the initiative and will discuss regulations and amendments to accelerate the initiative, including regulations similar to the “Homecoming Law” implemented in 2003 that offered lenient sentences for PKK members not involved in terror attacks. The committee’s work will serve as a guideline for future bills on terrorism.
Far-right parties are skeptical of the initiative and even outright hostile to efforts to end terrorism. Among them are the Good Party (IP) and the Victory Party (ZP), which heavily criticized the initiative. The IP shunned the parliamentary committee and will stage rallies across Türkiye in August. The CHP, on the other hand, is reportedly seeking equal representation of all parties at the committee, although this has not been confirmed by the party’s administration.
Addressing an event in the western province of Çanakkale on Sunday, Kurtulmuş stated that the committee would oversee the initiative and take steps to implement any necessary political and legal regulations to further advance it.
“This is not a matter that will occupy Türkiye’s agenda for a long time. However, this committee, which will demonstrate the joint determination of all parties in the Parliament, will also serve as a working platform where different voices can be heard in the pursuit of elevating Türkiye’s democratization. Different views will be expressed there, but at the end of the day, decisions that will be absolutely for the good of the nation and the country will be taken,” Kurtulmuş said.
“I hope that the committee will fulfill its responsibility in a short time and will bring its proposals before Parliament. Thus, we will end terrorism. Türkiye will be a country that has eliminated terrorism in a period where more countries in the region are being dragged into a cycle of terrorism. This will require a common effort. The entire nation will make an effort to achieve it. It has been almost 50 years now. If the terrorist networks used as proxy organizations by imperialists to divide this nation succeeded, Türkiye would already be partitioned. Nobody managed to divide this country, divide Turks, Kurds, Alevis, Sunnis. We share a history, culture, past, civilization, traditions,” he said.
For years, the PKK exploited the underprivileged Kurdish community, particularly in the southeast, claiming to fight for a self-styled state for them. Initially, Türkiye adhered to a strict counterterrorism strategy, declaring a state of emergency in the southeast. Counterterrorism policies in the 1990s, in particular, however, stoked terrorism more. In the 2000s, the country tried a new strategy with the “reconciliation process,” looking to eliminate reasons the PKK sought to justify its violence, such as reinstating the rights of Kurds. This process, however, failed when the PKK ended its “unilateral truce,” forcing the state to expand military operations to stamp out terrorists. As the PKK sought to increase its clout, Türkiye launched more cross-border military offensives, including in Syria and Iraq. Before the start of the terror-free Türkiye initiative, it succeeded to a large extent in neutralizing the threat of the terrorist group. In the past few years, the PKK’s acts of terrorism dropped to an all-time low.
Kurtulmuş said no power can separate “children of Alparslan and Selahaddin Eyyubi,” referring to two legendary leaders who etched their names in the annals of Turkish and Muslim history for their victory over Byzantine forces and Crusaders. Salahaddin Eyyubi, also known as Saladin, is recognized as a ruler of Kurdish origin, while Alparslan of the Seljuks is credited with establishing Türkiye as the homeland for Turkic tribes originating from Central Asia, following the iconic Battle of Manzikert in 1071.
He also stated that Türkiye derailed the plot to divide it. “It was the faith of the nation that disrupted it. It was the spirit of national solidarity within this nation that disrupted it. It was the national unity and consciousness of this nation that disrupted it. God willing, now the terrorist group will also formally dissolve itself and Türkiye will continue on its path as a strong country completely cleansed of all terrorist groups,” he said.
“If Türkiye can successfully maintain its internal peace, unity and the terror-free process, then the road ahead is open. Our march toward being a Türkiye with a stronger voice, both regionally and globally, is steady and powerful. I hope we will successfully complete this process in the shortest time possible, and continue on our path with even greater strength,” he added.
Kurtulmuş underlined that the initiative was not the work of any single political party and was not a political process “in the conventional sense.” “This is a fight for existence that all 86 million people must embrace and carry out together,” he said.
“The terrorism was imposed on Türkiye as a shackle by international imperialists – those who rule today’s world by the law of the jungle. Now is the time to break free of these shackles. Türkiye has carried this burden for too long. It will leave terrorism behind. In unity and solidarity, the terrorist group will dissolve itself. After its dissolution, we will not allow any breeding ground to emerge in which terrorism could once again develop,” he added.
