Disarmament of the PKK terrorist group will soon have an official framework as Parliament will oversee details of the terror-free initiative launched by government ally Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) last year. Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş is at the forefront of efforts in Parliament, which is expected to form a committee on the matter soon.
Addressing an event on Saturday evening, Kurtulmuş stated that they were getting rid of “a terrorism problem that was forced upon us for 50 years, and by Allah’s will, we will reinforce our homefront as a united population of 86 million people by silencing all weapons and taking on the path of unity.”
“Homefront” is an expression often invoked during debates on the terror-free initiative, first voiced by MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan shortly before the initiative commenced. The PKK is branded as a separatist group exploiting the Kurdish community in the country, and authorities see it as an obstacle to national unity between Turks, Kurds and other communities. Bahçeli and Erdoğan say unity is more needed than ever as tensions in the region are heightened by Israel. Israel is an arch foe of Türkiye, and Ankara is worried that its expansionist policies may spread even to Türkiye. Their fears are justified, especially after Israel attacked Lebanon first, and attacks on Iran only escalated concerns. Nowadays, Israel appears to set its sights on Syria under the pretext of assisting the Druze community there.
Kurtulmuş stressed that Türkiye’s unity and strength are not only critical for its 86 million citizens but also for the broader stability of the region, asserting that “a strong Türkiye means a strong region.”
He underlined the government’s determination to end more than five decades of terrorism that has plagued the country. “We have entered a new phase to put an end to the 50-year period of terrorism that has occupied more than half of our republic’s history,” he said. “This terrorism has shackled our nation, leaving it vulnerable to external interference at every opportunity.”
He voiced hope for a future in which “the children of this country will no longer hear gunfire in the mountains, but instead hear folk songs of unity and brotherhood.” Kurtulmuş said. Highlighting long-standing efforts dating back to the early 1990s to fragment Türkiye, Kurtulmuş said that national unity is the ultimate safeguard against such plans.
Kurtulmuş on Friday received the representatives of political parties, including the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), MHP, the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) and the Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), which oversaw the talks with the PKK’s jailed leader Abdullah Öcalan.
“Kurtulmuş and the deputy coordinators of the political parties discussed the working method and process of the commission that will be established and hold its first meeting in the coming days for the terror-free Türkiye initiative,” a statement from Parliament said. The party representatives conveyed their views on the process. The Good Party (IP) will not be providing members to the commission or participating in its work, Deputy Chair Buğra Kavuncu told Kurtulmuş, according to the statement.
At Friday’s meeting, Kurtulmuş stressed the key responsibilities Parliament will take on for the construction of a terror-free Türkiye, during which all parties must demonstrate a united approach, the statement said.
The terror-free Türkiye initiative was launched last year by MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli, who called on Öcalan to appeal to the PKK to lay down arms.
Soon, his call evolved into a new initiative that saw DEM Party lawmakers visiting Öcalan in the island prison where he is incarcerated in the Marmara Sea. As a result and in a landmark development, the PKK in May announced its dissolution and the end of its four-decade terror campaign that cost tens of thousands of lives in Türkiye, as well as in Iraq and Syria.
Most recently, in a ceremony across the border in Iraq earlier this month, PKK members destroyed their weapons as part of the initiative. “Today is a new day; the doors of a great, powerful Türkiye have been flung wide-open,” President Erdoğan has said in his first comments on the disarmament.
The Turkish president promised tight oversight of the PKK disarmament process and warned Ankara would respond firmly in case the process fails.
In the meantime, relevant parties strive to explain the initiative to the wider public, especially those affected by PKK terrorism, such as families of terror victims and those injured in PKK attacks. Minister of Family and Social Services Mahinur Özdemir Göktaş last week embarked on a tour of eastern provinces, which were plagued with PKK attacks in the past decades. In the provinces of Muş, Bitlis and Elazığ, Göktaş met families of terror victims. The ministry’s sources stated on Sunday that Göktaş assured families that the government would steadfastly stand with them and emphasized that martyrs and veterans were “architects of this initiative.” Göktaş also met leaders of local nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to convey the progress of the initiative.
Dilan Kunt Ayan, a lawmaker from the DEM Party, said that they would pursue a similar approach to convey the initiative to the public. Speaking at a news conference at Parliament on Sunday, Ayan said they were holding public meetings in neighborhoods and villages to promote a terror-free Türkiye. “The process should reach out to the entire society, and to achieve this, all political parties, all civic society organizations should mobilize so that we can accurately explain it to the public and inquire about public demands (regarding the initiative),” Ayan said.
