Bahçeli calls for cross-party commission amid PKK exit

ANKARA

Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli has called for the formation of a parliamentary commission to steer the "process toward a terror-free Türkiye” following PKK's decision to dissolve itself.

“The most logical option is to establish a commission with the participation of political parties representing all segments of society,” Bahçeli said in a written statement.

He proposed that the body be named "The Strategy for a Terror-Free Türkiye in the New Century, National Unity and Solidarity Commission."

Bahçeli said the commission should determine a roadmap for the coming period and be chaired by Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş.

He suggested it include 100 members, with at least one representative from each of the 16 political parties currently in parliament. The remaining seats would be allocated in proportion to the parliamentary representation. Each party would also appoint two experts to contribute to the commission’s work.

According to Bahçeli’s proposal, the commission would set its own procedures, make decisions by simple majority and submit proposals to relevant parliamentary commissions and the general assembly.

The call came amid a political debate over the implications of PKK’s dissolution announcement, which followed a congress held from May 5-7.

The terror group’s decision came months after Bahçeli suggested on Oct. 22 that jailed PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan could speak in parliament if he condemned terrorism.

On the same day as Bahçeli’s statement, DEM Party lawmaker Pervin Buldan met with Öcalan in the pro-Kurdish party's fifth visit to the İmralı prison island off Istanbul since December.

Öcalan, through a message shared by the party, said there is a need for a "new agreement on brotherhood law."