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Ankara is on the verge of eliminating the scourge of terrorism, Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz said late Monday, emphasizing that the terror-free Türkiye initiative is vital for the region.
Yılmaz reiterated that one of the most important agendas of the Century of Türkiye is strengthening internal unity and peace, and added that important developments are also underway in the Middle East, which could be easily exploited by foreign powers.
He indicated that the region has been put into turmoil for years with “artificial ethnic and sectarian movements.”
Speaking to the A Haber TV channel, the vice president highlighted that the terror-free Türkiye process is proceeding as planned.
“The process of a terror-free Türkiye has become a state policy thanks to the work of our relevant institutions, supported by our president. Türkiye has achieved significant success in the fight against terrorism. A very peaceful environment has been established within our borders and significant work has been carried out across the border through various operations and maneuvers. Türkiye is now in the process of being permanently rid of the scourge of terrorism,” he said.
The initiative was launched by government ally Devlet Bahçeli, head of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), who called on the PKK’s jailed leader, Abdullah Öcalan, to appeal to the PKK to lay down arms last year.
Soon, his call evolved into a new initiative that saw Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) lawmakers visiting Öcalan in the island prison where he is incarcerated in the Marmara Sea. As a result and in a landmark development, the PKK in May announced its dissolution and the end of its four-decade terror campaign that cost tens of thousands of lives in Türkiye, as well as in Iraq and Syria. Most recently, in a ceremony across the border in Iraq this month, PKK members destroyed their weapons as part of the process.
Meanwhile, Bahçeli also spoke on the same issue, saying that “those expecting Türkiye to be divided on ethnic or sectarian grounds will be disappointed with the terror-free Türkiye initiative.”
In a written statement, he said that his party discussed a system where Türkiye could have two vice presidents, one of whom could be an Alevi and the other a Kurd.
Ankara is at the same time also working on legal steps, establishing a parliamentary commission to follow up on the process of the PKK dissolving itself. This committee will make recommendations to the Parliament speaker regarding both administrative and legal regulations.
Parliament entered recess this week, yet some commissions will continue their work.
When asked about the new constitutional work, Yılmaz said that the commission was continuing its work and that the issue was not the work of just one party, and that constitutional work should be carried out with the highest consensus.
The government has been pushing to overhaul Türkiye’s Constitution for over a decade now, which was enforced in 1982 following a military coup that led to the detention of hundreds of thousands of people along with mass trials, torture and executions, which still represents a dark period in Turkish political history.
‘Stable Syria’
Yılmaz also touched upon the latest developments in Syria, where sectarian violence in southern Syria killed more than 1,260 people.
Ankara played a key role in establishing the cease-fire in Syria after Israeli airstrikes targeted the capital, Damascus, as well as Suwayda and Daraa, on the pretext of protecting the Druze community.
“Our stance on Syria is clear,” Yılmaz said, “we want a stable Syria.”
Yılmaz explained that Israel is committing massacres in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem. He added that Israel is not only attacking Palestine, but has also attacked Lebanon, Yemen, and most recently, Iran and that a similar situation is now being seen in Syria.
“As long as Israel considers itself above international law, our entire region is unfortunately under threat. Israel must immediately return to the boundaries of international law, a cease-fire must be established in Gaza, humanitarian aid must reach the oppressed people of Gaza without interruption and a political solution must be developed in our region.”
