Historic bill to run final phase of ‘terror-free Türkiye’ bid

ANKARA

A major framework law will govern the final phase of the “terror-free Türkiye” project with a clear objective of ending the decades-old PKK problem, say officials from the ruling alliance, adding this process will also have positive impacts on the regional peace.

Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş held last-minute meetings with the representatives of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) on Aug. 3 to fine-tune the drafted bill and make it ready.

The long-awaited legislative proposal tied to the government’s anti-terror campaign, which was launched in late 2024, is expected to be ratified by the parliament in the next two weeks.

Along with the AKP, its main ally, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), the Republican People’s Party (CHP) and the New Path bloc support the process and are expected to introduce the draft bill to the parliament through a joint initiative.

The main opposition New Party is also supportive of the campaign, but it is not known whether it will also sign the drafted law. The İYİ (Good) Party has consistently expressed its opposition to the process.

According to media reports, the drafted bill will define PKK as a defunct terror group and propose that its members who have not committed major crimes be placed on probation. However, those who have committed serious crimes and are serving life sentences will not be covered under the draft law. The AKP officials have already said it is not an amnesty law.

PKK members will also be subject to a five-year supervision period, during which they will be banned from holding political office or working in the public sector.

This temporary law will remain in effect for six months, according to the reports.

The drafted bill is also expected to outline how the disarmament and dissolution of PKK will be verified. The National Intelligence Organization and the Turkish Armed Forces will supervise the activities of PKK members and report about the pace of the disarmament.

In a statement over the weekend, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan described terrorism as major burden that had cost the country more than $2.3 trillion over the past four decades. “We have managed to bring our Terror-Free Türkiye process to this point without any setbacks,” he said, Erdogan said, adding that the government aims to achieve a lasting solution with the support of parliament.

DEM officials met Öcalan
In the meantime, a group of officials from the DEM Party paid a visit to jailed PKK leader Abdullah Öcala on the İmralı prison island off Istanbul on Aug. 2.

“With this law, we are setting out to solve a historical problem. We are at the beginning of a democratization process that will be at least as important as the founding of the Republic,” Öcalan said, according to a written statement by the DEM Party on Aug. 3.