Erdoğan: PKK disarmament 'meticulously monitored'
ANKARA
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on July 5 that authorities are closely tracking PKK's disarmament process as part of his government’s "terror-free Türkiye" initiative.
"The process will gain a little more speed when the terrorist organization starts to implement its decision to lay down arms," he told journalists on his way back from a summit in Azerbaijan.
His remarks came ahead of a planned ceremony by PKK in northern Iraq to begin destroying its weapons, which the terror group said could happen between July 10 and 12. PKK announced a ceasefire May in line with a call from its jailed leader Abdullah Öcalan.
"We are following the issue of disarmament. Both our Foreign Ministry and our National Intelligence Organization are tracking the process," Erdoğan said. "Our relevant institutions are meticulously monitoring every step, every move."
The president said he would meet with a delegation from the Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), which has played a key role in facilitating talks between Ankara and Öcalan.
"We will discuss the steps taken so far to reach the goal of a terror-free Türkiye with the DEM [Party] delegation and what will happen next," Erdoğan told reporters.
He said a date had not yet been set for the talks with DEM Party lawmakers Pervin Buldan and Mithat Sancar but indicated Türkiye's intelligence chief İbrahim Kalın would join the meeting.
The duo visited Öcalan on July 6 once more on the İmralı prison island off İstanbul. Media reports said their meeting with Erdoğan would likely to take place early next week after which they would head to İmralı again to brief Öcalan.
"A brand new door will open before us with the complete removal of arms, blood and tears," Erdoğan added, saying PKK's disarmament "will be the beginning of a new era for Türkiye in terms of security, democracy and development."
"We will work together on how to build a terror-free Türkiye throughout our country, in eastern and southeastern Anatolia."
Meantime, Erdoğan expressed confidence Türkiye would be readmitted to the F-35 fighter jet program and receive the stealth fighter jets in line with an agreement with U.S. President Donald Trump.
"I believe that Mr. Trump will remain loyal to the agreement we made. I think the F-35s will be delivered to Türkiye step-by-step during his term," he told reporters.
Erdoğan also said he asked Trump to intervene to stop shootings at Gaza aid centres, which the U.N. says have killed more than 500 people.
"I told him, 'You are the one who will best manage this process with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. There are people who are being killed in food queues in particular. You need to intervene here so that these people are not killed,'" Erdoğan said.
Israel blocked supplies going into Gaza in early March, deepening a humanitarian crisis in the war-torn territory, but on May 26, a group called the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which is backed by Israel and the US, started delivering supplies.
However its operations have since been marred by chaotic scenes and near-daily reports of Israeli forces firing on people waiting to collect rations from its distribution sites in Gaza.
Erdoğan said ending the 12-day Iran-Israel war had created a new opportunity to end the fighting in Gaza.
"The ceasefire between Iran and Israel has also opened a door for Gaza. Hamas has repeatedly demonstrated its good will in this regard," he said just days after Kalın and Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan met separately with senior Hamas officials.
