Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's statement, "We will see a Turkey where those in the mountains have come down and the prisons are emptied," during a historical speech made in Diyarbakır over the weekend has aroused wide echoes. All sights are now set on the steps that will follow the burying of weapons in the ongoing resolution process. With the end of terrorism and the silencing of weapons, the second curtain will soon be opening in the resolution process.

2014 will be a year of normalization. Steps will be taken to legislate the amendments presented by Prime Minister Erdoğan on September 30 in a new package of democratic reforms. From the start of the year and with steps aimed at 'restoration' a series of social projects will be brought to life geared towards integrating those abandoning the terrorist organization in the mountains into the community. In order for the process to proceed, the PKK terrorist organization must have completed its withdrawal from Turkey and have relinquished its weapons. It is speculated that at present, the PKK may have slowed or halted its withdrawal process, with only 20 percent of the organization's members having withdrawn from Turkey as of yet. Once the PKK withdrawal process has been completed and the organization has dropped their weapons, the second curtain in the resolution process will be drawn open.
By heading out under the notion that the Kurdish issue is not equivalent to a 'security' issue, plans are to sort through heavy and tough legislation that could lead to human rights violations. Within this framework, a number of articles open to exploitation may be weeded out from the Anti-Terror Law and the Turkish Criminal Code.

The article concerning remorse may be revised and its content expanded in an effort to provide incentives from those returning from the mountains. As for who will be included in this context will become clarified during the relinquishing of weapons phase. This new phase will also include advanced steps to instigate additional PKK members from dropping their weapons and abandoning the mountains. This may include new legislation to give incentives for relinquishing weapons. A number of surprising steps, including issuing an "effective repentance" law, may be taken for terrorist members that have not been involved in violent acts and are willing to hand over their weapons. For example, a specific timeframe may be established for which they should surrender their weapons and the arrest warrants on those whose abide may be lifted.

There are approximately 50 crimes listed in the Turkish Criminal Code, which are considered terrors crimes if committed within the framework of an organization founded with intentions of terrorism. Each one of these articles are now being laid to the table in terms of the penal code, the criminal justice act and the law on criminal execution. The third article in the Turkish Criminal Code, which dictates "Crimes against National Security" and "Crimes against the Constitutional Order" are automatically classified as "terror crimes". Both laws will be expanded to define clauses on terrorist organization activities, such as how and where the act began and how it finished.

Yesterday Deputy Prime Minister Beşir Atalay stated on a television broadcast, "All over the world, in a resolution process, after weapons are relinquished, decisions are made regarding those individuals' futures."

This is a translation of an article originally written by Hazal Ateş.