President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Türkiye has entered a new phase and that the terror-free initiative will benefit 85 million people in the country, regardless of their background
“We’ve entered a new phase. The Turkish people will not forgive actors who obstruct the process for terror-free Türkiye,” Erdoğan told a media gathering on Friday.
The president said that the excuses that the PKK terrorist group once exploited have either “disappeared, been resolved, or are in the process of being addressed” with the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Chairman Devlet Bahçeli-led initiative and the firm stance of the government.
“We will meticulously monitor, through our relevant institutions, whether all aspects of this process are being fully implemented,” Erdoğan said.
Noting that Türkiye has faced significant challenges in its 40-year struggle against terrorism, – with the threat long used as a tool to shape politics and restrict political actors – Erdoğan said the country has maintained its commitment to unity and brotherhood, ensuring that terrorism does not overshadow its social fabric.
He stressed that no one attempting to derail this process would be tolerated, as he highlighted that as the pressure of terrorism and armed threats diminishes, the space for democratic political engagement will expand, fostering a more open and inclusive political environment in Türkiye.
Ankara has shifted to the wait-and-see stage in the terror-free Türkiye initiative after the jailed leader of the PKK terrorist group called for it to dissolve, saying that it should either heed disarmament calls or face total annihilation.
The much-anticipated call is viewed as Türkiye’s success to put an end to decades of campaign of violence. The country is now holding its breath to see whether the group would obey Öcalan’s call. A rejection will likely be followed by more counterterrorism operations by security forces in Türkiye, as well as beyond borders to stamp out the PKK threat.
The second option was reflected in the remarks of Efkan Ala, deputy chair of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party). Ala, who was interior minister when Türkiye first tried to resolve the terrorism issue without counterterrorism operations more than a decade ago, was the first high-level official to comment on Öcalan’s call on Thursday. “We will look at the result,” Ala told broadcaster A Haber.
“We will look at whether this result will be achieved,” Ala said.
Öcalan’s statement was recited by a delegation of lawmakers from the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), known for its links to the PKK. It came months after Bahçeli stunned the nation by urging Öcalan to call on the PKK to lay down arms, preferably through a speech at Parliament where he would be brought after a temporary release.
The PKK, whose senior cadres are hiding in a mountainous territory in Iraq’s north, has yet to respond to the call but they earlier signaled that they might heed the call. Although in prison for more than two decades, Öcalan is still revered by the group, which refers to him as “önderlik” (“leadership”). Murat Karayılan, a senior leader of the group, said last month that they were willing to lay down arms on the condition of a “bilateral cease-fire and end of confinement of Öcalan.” Ankara repeatedly said that counterterrorism operations would continue during the process, and the Ministry of National Defense announced one day before the call that the army eliminated six terrorists in Syria’s north.
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