Today (August 5), a newly launched commission in the Turkish Parliament meets for the first time. The commission, aimed at solving Turkey’s long-running Kurdish issue, follows months of negotiations with Abdullah Öcalan, imprisoned leader of the banned Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) militant group.
| Turkish parliamentary commission aimed at resolving Kurdish issue launches today |
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| Turkish parliamentary commission aimed at resolving Kurdish issue launches today |
Following a disarmament call by Öcalan in February, the PKK announced their dissolution in May and performed a weapons-burning ceremony in Northern Iraq in mid-July.
The launch of a parliamentary commission was expected as the next phase in the solution process following the landmark announcements by the PKK over the past several months.
The official name being given to the commission is “The National Unity and Solidarity Commission.”
CHP joins, İYİ abstains
Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), under intense judicial pressure since the March 19th arrest of Istanbul Mayor and presidential candidate Ekrem İmamoğlu, announced last week it would join the commission.
Nationalist Action Party (MHP) Chairman Devlet Bahçeli, the ultranationalist politician who kickstarted the solution process last October, announced in a statement yesterday that he supported the CHP’s joining of the coalition, but criticized the party’s list of preconditions, describing the imposition of these demands as ‘unreasonable’.
The CHP’s preconditions consist of a list of demands including discussing the release of İmamoğlu, an emphasis on democratization, protections for journalists, compliance with European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) decisions, and the end of ‘trustee’ removals and replacements in opposition-controlled provinces.
The center-right nationalist İYİ Party has announced it will not be part of the commission. Instead, the party will be organizing a series of anti-solution process rallies, which kicked off in Bursa on Sunday (August 3). The party has described the initiative as a ‘betrayal process’. The far-right ultranationalist Zafer Party has announced its support for the rallies organized by the İYİ Party.
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Commission launches in parliament
At the launch of the commission Tuesday morning in the Turkish Parliament, Speaker of Parliament Numan Kurtulmuş promised the process would “protect the pride of Turks and the honor of Kurds.”
The commission is expected to announce a series of reforms aimed at democratization, improving Kurdish civil rights in Turkey, and facilitating the disarmament of the PKK, although the details of these reforms remain unclear, with the political parties involved holding differing goals. The CHP, with dozens of its mayors and elected officials currently behind bars, is expected to push for their release throughout the process.
Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has cooperated with the pro-Kurdish DEM Party throughout the solution process thus far, leading many to believe the party would pursue DEM’s support in a constitutional amendment to allow President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to run for a third term in 2028. On Tuesday, however, Parliament Speaker Kurtulmuş announced that this would not be the goal of the commission, saying “Our main concern here is not to write a new constitution or solve every single problem.”
The second meeting of the commission will take place this Friday, August 8th.
Written/translated for Medyascope by Leo Kendrick
