Analysis
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Legislation designed to ensure the surrender of thousands of armed Kurdish militants will be passed before the end of the summer as the government tries to push the high-tension disarmament process over the line, according to remarks from Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş.
Turkey took a new step in its engagement with minority communities when a Yazidi delegation was received in Ankara by Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz and Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş.
Hopeful for the disarmament of the PKK after the ceremonial burning of arms, the Turkish government is observing developments on the ground while efforts to establish a commission in the parliament look set to drag into next week. Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş visited MHP and CHP chairs, but the commission’s structure and name were not finalized. Now, he is expected to meet once again with the parliamentary group deputy chairs. The meeting, initially planned for July 25 is expected to be postponed to July 28 at the earliest. After the framework is set, commission members will be appointed. While the head of Turkish intelligence, İbrahim Kalın, toured all the party groups in the parliament, the media tracked a tempest in a teapot after MHP Chair Devlet Bahçeli confirmed reports that he proposed appointing two vice presidents—one Kurdish and one Alevi.
In a symbolic act seen by many as the first step toward a “terror-free Turkey,” a 30-member group affiliated with the PKK ceremonially burned their weapons and gear in front of a fire sacred to Kurds, initiating a process expected to proceed through mutual steps. In response, Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş invited political party representatives to a July 18 meeting to discuss forming a parliamentary commission tasked with drafting the legal framework for this new peace initiative.
The steps expected to be taken on the Kurdish peace process dominated discussions at the 106th anniversary of parliament's founding. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan insisted that the process was proceeding 'honorably' in reply to the pro-Kurdish DEM Party’s demand for bolder legislative action, while the parliament speaker blamed delays on missed disarmament deadlines.
The political parties represented in the parliamentary commission — tasked with supervising the Terror-Free Turkey initiative — have started submitting their reports to the speaker of Parliament. But both the governing bloc and the opposition appear far from agreeing on a common “solution law.”
Jailed former HDP co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş rejected remarks by former Parliament Speaker Bülent Arınç suggesting Demirtaş wished to meet President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and tell him he held no resentment. After a visit to Edirne Prison, Arınç said Demirtaş wanted to tell Erdoğan, “I hold no grudge against you.” Demirtaş responded with a handwritten note, saying he never expressed such a thought. “What troubles me most is being associated with words and ideas I never hinted at,” he wrote.
At the 13th meeting of the National Solidarity, Brotherhood, and Democracy Commission, lawyers were heard on Oct. 2 and Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş stated that the listening phase is about to end. Although not announced officially, women’s and children’s rights defenders as well as the intelligence service are expected to be heard in the coming days, before concluding the listening phase.
Numan Kurtulmuş is currently the speaker of the Turkish Grand National Assembly, and as such also chairs the “National Solidarity, Brotherhood, and Democracy Commission” formed to seek a solution to the Kurdish question. But if we were to borrow the rhetorical style of MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli, we might ask: “Who is Kurtulmuş, where did he come from, and where is he heading?”
The parliamentary National Solidarity, Brotherhood and Democracy Commission held two tense meetings this week, first hearing from Turkey’s bar associations and then from former parliamentary speakers.The MPs on the commission, who had so far avoided direct confrontation, engaged in their first open war of words after bar leaders gave long speeches stressing constitutional rights and the rule of law.
The DEM Party delegation will visit Abdullah Öcalan, the jailed PKK founder, on İmralı Island on Aug. 28, following weeks of criticism over limited access.
As of July 31, all parties represented in Turkish Parliament—except the İYİ Party—have appointed members to join the parliamentary commission on the Kurdish issue, ending debates over which parties would take seats. Attention now turns to the commission’s roadmap, including its official name, agenda, timeline, and decision-making rules. The İYİ Party’s decision to abstain from participation has complicated the calculation of an absolute majority. While Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş initially announced that the commission would have 51 members, the İYİ Party’s absence reduces the number to 48, raising debate over whether the three-fifths majority should be calculated based on 51 or 48 members.