Suitable climate created for legal amendments over terror-free Türkiye bid: Bahçeli

ANKARA

A suitable climate has been created for tackling legal and political aspects of the ongoing terror-free Türkiye project, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) chairman has said, urging all relevant political actors to refrain from provocative statements and actions.

“The appropriate climate has been created for the necessary legal arrangements to be made. The first objective from now on is to quickly pass the laws that will serve the purpose,” MHP Chairman Devlet Bahçeli told his parliamentary group at a weekly meeting on March 31.

The PKK terror organization announced its decision to disarm and dissolve itself in May 2025 following a historic call by the jailed PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan. A parliamentary panel has submitted a report to the government for the legal amendments that can be taken for further advancing the terror-free Türkiye bid.

The parliament is expected to take these steps in the coming period.

Bahçeli underlined that a societal common ground was generated following the release of the panel’s report.

“The terror-free Türkiye process aims to establish a lasting atmosphere of peace and calm in Türkiye while also contributing to regional stability. The terror-free Türkiye is a project of national unity and brotherhood,” Bahçeli said.

This will serve as a solid asset for Türkiye amid continued regional wars and crises, Bahçeli stated, stressing that the terror-free Türkiye bid was the right step taken at a right moment.

“At this critical juncture, all political actors and segments of society have a responsibility to act meticulously over the terror-free Türkiye project, and to refrain from actions and rhetoric that would provoke the process,” urged the MHP leader.

No turning back from this process: PKK leader

In the meantime, the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) has released a statement by Öcalan after a meeting with him at the İmralı island prison over the weekend.

“We have no problem with the republic. The main problem is that the republic is not a democratic one. Democracy is the sole source for the strengthening the republic,” Öcalan said, repeating that armed conflict of the PKK has ended.

“There is no turning back from this point. The process we are experiencing is a transition to peace through a democratic republic. Once the process is successfully accomplished, the republic will be twice as strong,” he said.

Öcalan also emphasized that the war in Iran increases the importance of the ongoing peace process in Türkiye.