Parliament under spotlight in new phase of ‘terror-free Türkiye’

The Turkish Parliament delayed its summer recess on Wednesday while lawmakers from a party linked to the PKK terrorist group met the parliament speaker on Thursday with the agenda of the “terror-free Türkiye” initiative. Developments point out that Parliament will likely establish a committee on advancing the initiative that aims to end a campaign of violence plaguing Türkiye since the 1980s.

Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş met lawmakers Pervin Buldan and Mithat Sancar from the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), which seeks the formation of a parliamentary committee exclusively to tackle the initiative. The initiative was launched by Devlet Bahçeli, head of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), last year. The DEM Party acted as “messenger” between the PKK’s jailed ringleader Abdullah Öcalan and Turkish politicians and the public in general after Öcalan agreed to Bahçeli’s proposal to call on the PKK to lay down arms. The terrorist group in May announced that it would dissolve itself, though its next steps remain unclear. Turkish authorities have confirmed that the group’s disarmament would take place in Iraq and Syria, and Turkish intelligence would coordinate the handover of weapons.

Speaking after their meeting with Kurtulmuş, Buldan told reporters that they discussed the current stage of the initiative, describing it as a “positive meeting.” Buldan said they were also planning to hold talks with Bahçeli, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Özgür Özel in the coming days to discuss a terror-free Türkiye. Sancar said Parliament would play a crucial role in the initiative. The DEM Party pursues greater transparency in the initiative, while the government favors a cautious approach, as earlier attempts to dissolve the PKK without a strictly military approach have failed. The DEM Party, which has intricate links with the terrorist group, also aims to ensure accountability for the initiative, which was mostly based on informal steps so far, as the terrorist group, naturally, is not recognized as “a party” to an agreement, in accordance with Türkiye’s refusal to negotiate with terrorist groups.