Anti-terror bid will succeed, minister says during Hakkari visit

ANKARA

Interior Minister Mustafa Çiftçi visited the eastern province of Hakkari on July 12, a mountainous region bordering Iraq and Iran that has long been associated with clashes with PKK, declaring that the government’s “terror-free Türkiye” initiative will succeed.

“This is a strategic military outpost. Iran is just 7.5 kilometers from here, while the Iraqi border lies 28 kilometers away,” Çiftçi told reporters after visiting a military base at an altitude of 2,100 meters in the Şemdinli district.

“This region also forms the cornerstone of our ‘terror-free Türkiye’ and ‘terror-free region’ initiative. Thanks to the presence of our gendarmerie, terrorists are no longer being pursued here as they once were,” he said.

Çiftçi was referring to the government’s “terror-free Türkiye” initiative, under which the PKK has declared a ceasefire and announced its decision to dissolve the organization and lay down its arms.

“The ‘terror-free Türkiye’ project has entered the implementation phase. It will continue and it will succeed. I do not have the slightest doubt about that,” he added.

After the PKK announced the dissolution, the Turkish parliament later established the National Solidarity, Brotherhood and Democracy Commission to oversee the process. The 51-member panel, chaired by
Kurtulmuş, included representatives from all major parties except the İYİ (Good) Party.

The legislative package underpinning the initiative is expected to be introduced before parliament adjourns for its summer recess.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan recently said the successful implementation of the initiative would enable the country to “write a new chapter.”