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The Justice and Development Party (AK Party) wrapped up a report it will present to Parliament for advancing the terror-free Türkiye initiative. The report, which will be assessed by Parliament’s National Solidarity, Brotherhood and Democracy Committee, may guide lawmakers on how to proceed after the PKK terrorist group fully disarms itself.
The PKK announced dissolution and disarmament earlier this year after the AK Party ally Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) launched the initiative in 2024. MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli’s call to the PKK’s jailed ringleader, Abdullah Öcalan, to order the PKK into dissolution led to landmark developments in the spring and summer, where the group obeyed the appeal by Öcalan.
The report, whose details were published by the Sabah newspaper, includes a proposal for the “homecoming” of PKK members not involved in any acts of terrorism. They will benefit from exemption from incarceration and will be fully released after five years of probation. The MHP has made a similar proposal in its own report to Parliament on a terror-free Türkiye earlier.
The AK Party, which will first seek approval of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for the report, will also propose the reintegration of PKK members into society, offering them to resume their education or vocational training courses. Turkish authorities compiled a database of PKK members, and it is believed 80% of the members have not been involved in terrorist attacks or other crimes so far.
For those involved in terrorism, the AK Party says new legal regulations may be considered once security forces confirm the group is completely disarmed and dissolved. They will benefit from a reduction in sentencing. Under existing laws in the Turkish Penal Code and Counterterrorism Law, those who commit acts of terrorism are subject to additional sentences. In most cases, sentences are doubled if the crime is committed as an act of terrorism. Currently, convicts are eligible for conditional release after serving half of their sentences. If they committed acts of terrorism, they are required to serve three-fourths of their prison term. Once the PKK is dissolved, this will mean that members will not be considered as terrorists anymore and thus, they will benefit from the same sentencing as other offenders. The AK Party proposes non-prosecution for those only charged with membership of a terrorist group, aiding and abetting the PKK, and propaganda. Individuals currently serving time for those crimes will be eligible for release if they have served a certain portion of their prison term. Currently, some 4,200 PKK members are serving time in Turkish prisons.
Lastly, the AK Party will propose allowing senior members of the PKK to leave Iraq, where they currently hide out, for third countries.
‘Winning this time’
The terror-free initiative has raised hope for putting an end to the terrorism scourge, which has plagued Türkiye for decades. Officials believe the initiative, although similar to steps to end terrorism in the past, may genuinely work as the PKK is more willing to dissolve this time.
Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş, who also chairs the parliamentary committee on the terror-free Türkiye plan, told an event in Ankara on Tuesday that Türkiye will “win this time.”
“Tens of thousands of people have been killed, including thousands of members of the security forces. The country has also lost vast resources, either directly in the fight against terrorism or due to the damage it has caused,” Kurtulmuş told a gathering of Turkish ambassadors.
“For Türkiye to strengthen its voice in this region and become an effective global actor, it must now leave the issue of terrorism behind,” Kurtulmuş said.
He said that the initiative has reached an important stage in a short period of time. He expressed hope that the PKK would heed calls to lay down arms both inside and outside the country, complete its dissolution process and that the issue would then be eliminated entirely.
Kurtulmuş said a terror-free Türkiye also means a “terror-free region.”
“Ensuring a terror-free Türkiye will mean the end of terrorism in Syria, Iraq and Lebanon, and will bring genuine peace and security to the countries of the region,” he said.
While security institutions and intelligence units are managing the technical aspects of the process with the terrorist group, Kurtulmuş emphasized that, for the first time, politics, the national will itself, has demonstrated firm resolve to oversee and guide the process, unlike in past periods.
He said efforts to dismantle the PKK were also undertaken during the tenures of Presidents and Prime Ministers Süleyman Demirel, Turgut Özal and Necmettin Erbakan, but those initiatives failed due to actors who did not want terrorism to end. Similar efforts reached a certain level of maturity in 2013 under AK Party governments, he said, but were undermined by various elements, primarily the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ).
Kurtulmuş said the current process is being pursued with determination. “At this stage, political parties will submit their final reports to us in the coming days,” he said. “The committee will then share the outcome of its work with the Turkish public in a final report, which I hope will be adopted by consensus.”
Comparing Türkiye’s experience with international examples of conflict resolution, Kurtulmuş said it was remarkable that Türkiye had reached in six or seven months a point that took other countries eight to 10 years.
“I hope that, as a result of these high-level democratic discussions, we will add an important experience to the history of Turkish democracy,” he said. “Political parties can come together. They may have fundamentally opposing views, but on an issue of national importance, they can articulate their ideas in a common direction and strive for a solution.”
“Allah willing, this process will end successfully,” he said. “This time we will win. This time, Türkiye will win. This time, the imperialists and their proxies will not win. No matter what, Türkiye and our nation will prevail, and we will remove terrorism from Türkiye’s agenda forever.”
