Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş said on June 6 that there has been a delay in the disarmament process of the PKK beyond what he described as the will of imprisoned leader Abdullah Öcalan, urging that the setback be resolved quickly.
“We see a serious delay outside the will of İmralı,” Kurtulmuş told reporters upon returning from official visits to Finland and Sweden, referring to the island where Öcalan is serving a life sentence. “I hope this delay is lifted as soon as possible.”
He said the government-backed “terror-free Türkiye” plan’s most critical condition is verifiable and monitorable confirmation that the terror group has fully disbanded.
That verification, he said, would need to come from security institutions and could involve a mechanism reporting periodically to parliament.
Kurtulmuş pointed to a symbolic weapons-burning ceremony in Iraq’s Sulaymaniyah as an important but incomplete step. He said further progress stalled after that event.
“If the organization had continued to fulfill its responsibilities quickly after that, this issue would already have been resolved,” Kurtulmuş said.
“We must not leave any excuse open,” he said, adding that “urgent action is needed in a favorable atmosphere.”
The speaker said the parliament is prepared to act once security agencies confirm that conditions for disarmament and dissolution have been met.
The campaign accelerated after PKK announced last May that it had ended its armed activities and dissolved its organizational structure.
Parliament later established the National Solidarity, Brotherhood and Democracy Commission to oversee the initiative. The 51-member body, chaired by Kurtulmuş, included representatives from all parliamentary parties except the İYİ (Good) Party.
