Addressing a parliamentary group meeting of his Justice and Development Party (AK Party) on Wednesday, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan lauded the terrorist group PKK’s decision to dissolve itself earlier this week. He said the terror-free initiative launched by his ally, Devlet Bahçeli, leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), has entered a new stage and demonstrated that Türkiye can solve its own problems without external interference.
“Monday’s development is a critical step toward our goal to build Century of Türkiye,” Erdoğan said, referring to his ambitious vision to improve Türkiye in the second centenary of the republic. “This new stage is a stage to reinforce our brotherhood, unity, solidarity and our march to a common future,” he said. “This is a stage where the walls of terrorism dividing 86 million people of Türkiye will come down. This is a stage where we are getting rid of a major obstacle to the development of our democracy. I am proud to say that Türkiye has been able to show the world that it can resolve its own problems through its own political institutions, its own citizens,” Erdoğan remarked.
Recalling earlier efforts to resolve the issue, including one by his political icon, late President Turgut Özal, Erdoğan lamented that earlier moves to end PKK terrorism were thwarted by “domestic and foreign circles who had their own agenda.” “Especially in the 1990s, terrorism advanced due to certain wrong practices. I pursued efforts to end this climate of terrorism that cost the lives of tens of thousands of sons and daughters of this country, both during my tenure as prime minister and during my presidency. We took risks no other politicians dared to take; we undertook heavy burdens. Our efforts were unfortunately undermined at times,” he said.
He underlined that a terror-free Türkiye would not move forward if it had adhered to earlier paradigms to resolve the matter. “We are glad that the terrorism problem is heading to a stage of solution based on common conscience and the concept of one homeland and one state,” he said.
“We were challenged by terrorism, paid the price and learned our lessons. In the meantime, every development in our region showed terrorism is no means to any end. The age of terrorism, violence and illegitimate actions is over. Pursuing illegitimate ways to achieve your purpose is against the spirit of our times,” he underlined. PKK, for decades, exploited the Kurdish community, claiming to fight for their rights and a self-styled Kurdish state in Türkiye. In its statement regarding the dissolution, the PKK claimed that it was time to resolve the issue through democratic politics.
“(The PKK) took a step appropriate to our common understanding of living together, a joint future we already planned for our nation,” Erdoğan said.
He called upon the PKK’s Syria wing and pro-PKK lobbies in Europe to join the dissolution efforts and end anti-Turkish action. “It is time for them to join the dissolution. We want to see them siding with us, not against us. We want Türkiye to be remembered with the rise of its technology, culture, arts, democratic and humanitarian development standards, not terrorism,” he said. Erdoğan then went on to thank everyone involved in the initiative, particularly Devlet Bahçeli, leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), who engineered the initiative with his historic call to the terrorist group’s jailed ringleader, Abdullah Öcalan, last year. He also thanked late Sırrı Süreyya Önder, deputy parliamentary speaker and a lawmaker for the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), who recited Öcalan’s call for dissolution at a landmark news conference in February and played a role as a messenger between Öcalan, political parties and other relevant sides for the success of the initiative. Erdoğan also thanked the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) and its chair for adopting responsible policies, though they have been distant and negative toward the initiative at times.
“Another important point we must emphasize is that the existence of the (executive presidency) system ensured a smooth progress for the initiative. A coalition government would be unable to conduct the initiative,” he said. Erdoğan acknowledged that the initiative still needed to be fully implemented and noted that the National Intelligence Organization (MIT) would meticulously monitor whether the PKK fulfilled its commitment to dissolution.
The president also hinted at more steps to accommodate the terror-free Türkiye initiative. He said Turkish politics will play its role in the initiative once the PKK fulfills its promise of dissolution. Erdoğan also touched upon the appointment of trustees to municipalities. He stated that after the PKK’s dissolution, the practice may be less common. Trustees have been appointed to several municipalities whose mayors and municipal assembly members were linked to the terrorist group and accused of funneling municipal funds to terrorists.
Trump, Gaza, Syria
Erdoğan also delved into Türkiye’s role in peace diplomacy amid regional conflicts and mentioned his talks with U.S. President Donald Trump to lift U.S. sanctions on Syria. He thanked Trump for the move and said he was confident that his “friend” Trump would also take action to end the humanitarian tragedy in Gaza. He recalled his online meeting with Trump, Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman when Trump met al-Sharaa in Riyadh and said his participation was part of his work to strengthen regional peace.
He emphasized that Türkiye has earned everyone’s trust through its principled, consistent, fair and just policies in efforts to promote regional peace and stability. He cited the country’s role in the Russia-Ukraine war, tensions between Pakistan and India, against the genocide in Gaza and negotiations between Somalia and Ethiopia.
Highlighting Türkiye’s commitment to speaking the truth “under the principle that true friends speak hard truths,” Erdoğan said, “We have never been among those who fuel the fire, but rather those who mobilize to extinguish it.”
Erdoğan reiterated that Türkiye seeks nothing but peace, stability, democracy and security – both in the region and globally.
Regarding the recent flurry of diplomatic activity, Erdoğan said Türkiye is striving to achieve these goals. “God willing, we hope to receive soon heartening news that will ease the suffering in Gaza,” Erdoğan said, without elaborating.