“A high-level security board will convene next week to oversee the PKK’s disarmament and dissolution process," Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz announced, following the publication of a framework bill outlining the political and security parameters of the “terror-free Türkiye” initiative in the Official Gazette on Aug. 17.
“The board, as defined in the law and operating under the chairmanship of the Vice President, was established with the publication of the law. Our member ministers and institutions have also commenced their work within their respective areas of responsibility,” said Yılmaz in a written statement on Aug. 18.
The Turkish parliament approved the 12-article Law on Strengthening National Solidarity and Social Integration last week, in a historic development for the resolution of the decades-old PKK terrorism in Türkiye.
It took effect after it was signed by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and published in the Official Gazette.
The law also establishes an eight-member board chaired by Yılmaz to oversee implementation, alongside a parliamentary commission tasked with monitoring the process. The Yılmaz-led board will bring together the ministers of foreign affairs, defense, interior, and justice, as well as top intelligence and military officials.
The board’s report will be crucial to advancing the process. Its confirmation that the PKK has fully disarmed and dissolved is key to enforcing the remaining provisions of the law, which allow sentence executions for certain members to be postponed for five to 10 years.
The board will take action once an official National Security Council (MGK) report on the matter is published in the Official Gazette.
The vice president stated that the board will hold its first meeting on Aug. 24, during which it will establish subcommittees to oversee the PKK’s disarmament and dissolution.
Yılmaz stated that matters pertaining to the “terror-free Türkiye” bid will be reviewed at the board’s first meeting, marking the start of its intensive efforts to advance national unity and solidarity.
Initiated in late 2024 after a landmark call by Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Chair Devlet Bahçeli, the “terror-free Türkiye” process reached a major turning point in February 2025 when jailed PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan appealed to the organization to terminate its armed campaign and dissolve its structure.
In response, the PKK formally declared its decision to disarm and disband in June 2025, followed a month later by a symbolic weapon-burning ceremony conducted by its members in northern Iraq.
