Parliament speaker meets political leaders over terror-free Türkiye legislation
ANKARA
Parliament speaker Numan Kurtulmuş with MHP Chairman Devlet Bahçeli on July 21.(AA)
Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş has launched a new campaign to promote a draft framework law to facilitate the implementation of the terror-free Türkiye project which foresees a permanent end to the four-decades-old terrorism problem.
The possible legislation of the framework law is seen a major step in accelerating the terror-free Türkiye bid in line with the PKK terror organization’s completion of its disarmament and dissolution process.
Kurtulmuş’s itinerary on July 21 included Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Chairman Devlet Bahçeli, Republican People’s Party (CHP) Chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) co-leaders Tülay Hatimoğulları and Tuncer Bakırhan as well as New Path Party Chairman Mehmet Emin Ekmen.
Kurtulmuş is also expected to meet senior leaders of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) on July 22. It is not sure whether Kurtulmuş will also hold a separate meeting with Özgür Özel, the leader of the main opposition.
Kurtulmuş and the leaders of the political party leaders, except for the Good Party (İYİ Party) which has never joined the efforts in the terror-free Türkiye bid, focused on the draft law with efforts to avoid differences between the parties.
Not amnesty: AKP
The Parliament speaker is aiming to submit the draft law with the support of all the political leaders before the Parliament goes to recess in coming weeks.
According to the sources, the 12-article draft law will aim to overcome legal challenges before the implementation of the process and give shape on the status of PKK members.
Deputy parliamentary group leader of the AKP, Leyla Usta underlined that the draft law will be ready for further evaluations at the Justice Committee of the Parliament before the end of July. In a statement, she said parliament may be reconvened in mid-August for the legislation of the framework law.
As for the substance, she urged that this draft law should not be introduced as amnesty.
“The state may use its right to pardon in crimes against the state, but it cannot do the same in offenses against persons. We don’t think that the state should use its rights on issues concerning persons,” Usta stated.
Öcalan: Let’s build a shared life
Kurtulmuş’s visits came just a day after a delegation from the DEM Party met jailed PKK leader, Abdullah Öcalan, at İmralı Island prison.
Öcalan, who issued a historic call to PKK to bring an end to its armed conflict against Türkiye in February 2025, has been playing an important role in the advancement of the terror-free Türkiye project.
“Our determination to take action and resolve the issue within the framework of brotherhood continues. We are on the verge of transforming the historical alliance and unity between Kurds and Turks, a historical truth in Anatolia that has remained inseparable throughout all critical stages, into a legal framework,” Öcalan said, according to a written statement by the DEM Party on July 21.
The jailed leader has also recalled that the time has come to create a legal framework, calling for building a common future.
The terror-free Türkiye campaign accelerated after PKK announced last May that it had ended its armed activities and dissolved its organizational structure. Two months later, a symbolic ceremony was held in Iraq in which weapons were publicly burned.
Parliament later established the National Solidarity, Brotherhood and Democracy Commission to oversee the initiative.