The "terror-free Türkiye" plan that involves the dissolution of the PKK dominates the country’s agenda this week as the long-awaited disarmament of the terrorist group is within reach.
Erdoğan received a delegation from a political party affiliated with the group on Monday, his second such meeting as part of the initiative. The meeting between Erdoğan and Pervin Buldan and Mithat Sancar, lawmakers from the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), is viewed as critical for the initiative launched by a government ally last year.
Also on Monday, Ibrahim Kalın, head of the National Intelligence Organization (MIT), is expected to meet Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş, Turkish media outlets reported, apparently to discuss how the initiative would be tackled by Parliament. The MIT is tasked with monitoring the disarmament process. Kalın and Efkan Ala, deputy chair of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) who was a part of efforts during the "reconciliation process" to resolve the terrorism issue, accompanied Erdoğan in his meeting with the DEM Party delegation that lasted more than one hour.
The DEM Party seeks the formation of a parliamentary committee to oversee the initiative, something endorsed by most parties. The AK Party announced earlier that Parliament’s summer recess, later this month, would be postponed to accommodate the formation of the committee.
On Tuesday, Kalın will travel to Baghdad to hold talks, days after his visit to Irbil in northern Iraq and an unprecedented visit to the southeastern province of Hakkari, where he met troops securing the Turkish-Iraqi border. The PKK’s senior cadres and the bulk of its members are hiding out in Iraq, especially in the north controlled by Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).
Buldan and Sancar told reporters before their meeting with Erdoğan that it was a historical occasion in the initiative. "We need to exchange views as the process enters a new stage," she said. Sancar said they would discuss what the next steps would be in the initiative after the PKK's planned disarmament.
The DEM Party lawmakers met PKK jailed leader Abdullah Öcalan on Sunday, in an unusually long meeting that lasted for more than two hours. The party said in a statement after the meeting that Öcalan affirmed the next stage in the initiative.
In February, Öcalan called on the PKK to disband itself, shortly after the launch of the initiative by Devlet Bahçeli, leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), a government ally. Bahçeli, a lifelong nationalist and staunch advocate of counterterrorism efforts through the army, reasoned that Türkiye needed to maintain its unity amid growing threats to its very existence due to regional conflicts. He unexpectedly reached out to the DEM Party and the PKK. Bahçeli, Erdoğan and proponents of the initiative say that the plan would cement unity between Turks and Kurds, as the PKK has heavily relied on the latter community to further its so-called cause to create a Kurdish state in the southeast.
The PKK's declaration of imminent dissolution in response to Öcalan's call came in May. It was the first time that the group openly expressed intent to disband, after several occasions of so-called "truces." A first batch of terrorists will symbolically abandon arms in a yet undisclosed location in northern Iraq, at a ceremony that will also be attended by journalists. Media reports say they would either burn the weapons or bury them in a gesture of goodwill. Türkiye awaits the disarmament to take the initiative to its next stage: a concrete legal framework. The DEM Party proposed a parliamentary committee to oversee it, and authorities are warm to the idea. Kalın was expected to meet Kurtulmuş later on Monday to discuss the issue.
The initiative, however, may take longer as the YPG, the Syrian wing of the PKK, is apparently not very keen on dissolution. Nevertheless, Türkiye hopes it will bow down to the demands of the new government in Syria for integration into the post-Assad Syrian army.
The fate of the terrorists is also up for discussion, though authorities are reportedly preparing to let senior leaders of the group stay in Iraq or leave for third countries, while PKK members not involved in any offenses may benefit from lenient sentences if they surrender to Turkish authorities. MIT will create a database of all weapons in use by the PKK and those delivered to the authorities.
In the next stage, the proposed parliamentary committee to oversee the initiative will prepare a report on suggestions about the initiative in October. Media outlets report that the committee would specifically tackle how to ensure integration of PKK members into society, although security sources have repeatedly said there would not be a general amnesty nor impunity for terrorists.
