President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan met with senior Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) lawmakers on Aug. 13 to discuss how a newly passed framework bill tied to the government’s “terror-free Türkiye” initiative would be implemented.
The closed-door meeting at the presidential complex with Pervin Buldan and Mithat Sancar lasted one hour and 40 minutes.
Ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) deputy leader Efkan Ala and National Intelligence Organization (MİT) chief İbrahim Kalın also attended.
The discussions covered the stages of implementation, steps to be taken and issues requiring particular sensitivity during the process, according to information obtained by daily Hürriyet.
Following the meeting, Buldan and Sancar said the sides had “once again reaffirmed a shared will to continue the process with determination.”
They said the legislation opened the door to a period in which democracy and political life could be strengthened, adding that work would continue to advance the process for the benefit of all citizens.
The initiative seeks the complete disarmament and dissolution of PKK. Buldan and Sancar have been facilitating contacts between Ankara and jailed PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan.
Parliament approved the bill on strengthening national solidarity and social integration on Aug. 10 with 467 votes. It was subsequently submitted to Erdoğan for promulgation.
Under the Constitution, the president has 15 days to publish legislation adopted by parliament or return it for reconsideration.
In a speech on Aug. 13, Erdoğan has described parliament’s passage of the framework bill as a “historic step” toward ending a problem that has cost tens of thousands of lives over four decades.
“We will permanently resolve this issue, which has cost tens of thousands of lives and 40 years of our country, through the joint efforts of the state and the nation,” he said.
Erdoğan also thanked Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli, Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş and all those involved in drafting and passing the bill.
