Turkish Parliament’s Committee on resolving “Kurdish Issue” nears final report

The committee, formed in the Turkish Parliament following Leader Abdullah Ocalan’s call to resolve the Kurdish issue and achieve democracy, held its sixteenth meeting yesterday in Ankara, where it heard from Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Minister of Justice Yılmaz Tunç.

During the meeting, Parliament Speaker and Committee Chair Numan Kurtulmuş stated that the committee has made significant progress in drafting its final report, describing its work as “historic.”

He noted that the committee succeeded in unifying the views of various political parties on key issues related to democracy and the country’s future.

Referring to the October 26 statement regarding Leader Ocalan’s call and the PKK dissolution decision, Kurtulmuş said the committee has prepared the framework for legal amendments to be submitted to parliament soon. He emphasized that the steps taken so far are “major and impactful.”

For his part, Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç said after the meeting, “This committee is extremely important, and its work is of great value.” 

He clarified that legal matters fall within the parliament’s authority, adding: “The parliament’s vision will be decisive, and based on the committee’s decisions, a roadmap and shared vision will be determined and presented in the name of the people. We will continue our efforts to ensure the success of the process and achieve the desired progress.”

Tunç continued, “We are going through a historic phase, and our goal is for our country to finally overcome the suffering and losses caused by previous policies at both the economic and humanitarian levels. The Ministry of Justice will continue its efforts to facilitate the process, overcome obstacles stemming from past practices, support the peace process, and strengthen the foundations of democracy through cooperation between state institutions and parliament.”

It is noteworthy that a meeting took place yesterday at the Presidential Palace in Beştepe between a delegation from the People’s Equality and Democracy Party (DEM), led by Pervin Buldan and Mithat Sancar, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, with the participation of the head of the parliamentary bloc of the Justice and Development Party, Efkan Ala, and the head of Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization, Ibrahim Kalin, held a meeting that lasted for about an hour.

According to a statement released after the meeting, detailed assessments were made regarding the current stage of the peace and democratic society process, and future steps necessary to advance the process were discussed. The statement affirmed that both sides reached a consensus on a shared vision and practical steps for the next phase.

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ANHA