Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş said Muslim countries should begin discussing a joint defense mechanism, arguing that rising threats require a collective response rather than piecemeal national efforts.
Speaking on Al Jazeera Mubasher TV on Jan. 21, Kurtulmuş said the Islamic world faced “major threats” across multiple regions and needed to strengthen cooperation on security and defense.
His comments came as Türkiye closely tracks Syria’s shifting balance of power after the fall of the Baathist rule. Kurtulmuş said Ankara wanted a stable administration in Syria and urged all armed factions to come under the country’s new leadership, warning against Syria becoming a haven for terrorist groups.
He also called for an inclusive political process that protects Syria’s ethnic, sectarian and religious diversity and for the rebuilding of state institutions weakened by years of conflict.
Kurtulmuş urged the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to join Syria’s state structures, saying the YPG and the broader SDF — linked to the PKK — should end armed activity and take part in Syria’s political transition.
He pointed to an agreement signed between Syria’s authorities and the SDF, saying he hoped it would be fully implemented and remove what he called a security threat.
On domestic security, Kurtulmuş said Türkiye had spent decades fighting the PKK and would not accept “separatist” armed entities along its borders. He claimed the conflict had cost the country more than $2 trillion in economic losses.
He said parliament had set up a “National Solidarity, Brotherhood and Democracy Commission” as part of Ankara’s stated goal of a “terror-free Türkiye,” adding that Türkiye also wanted a “terror-free region” spanning neighbouring countries.
Asked about Gaza, Kurtulmuş repeated that Israel’s campaign amounted to “genocide,” saying no political development should allow the world to forget the suffering of Palestinians. He said accountability would be pursued in international courts.
He also argued that relations with Israel could not simply return to normal “as if nothing happened,” referring to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s legal troubles and saying the international community could not “carry” what he called the burden of Israel’s actions.
Kurtulmuş was also asked about Israel’s decision to recognize Somaliland. He described it as part of a “divide, fragment, rule” approach and called it an “Israeli project” and an “imperialist project” aimed at weakening Somalia through internal divisions.
Israel announced on Dec. 26 that it recognized Somaliland as an independent state, prompting condemnation from Somalia and criticism across the region, including from Türkiye’s Foreign Ministry.
On reports of possible defense cooperation involving Türkiye, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, Kurtulmuş said Ankara first focused on maintaining its own capabilities but sought to expand security cooperation with a wider set of partners.
Returning to his broader message, he said Muslim countries should decide whether to respond individually to mounting security challenges or work toward a common defense framework — and argued that the time had come to at least start that conversation.
