AKP Founder Claims Bahçeli Forced Government’s Hand on “Terror‑Free Turkey” Initiative

One of the founding figures of Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), former minister and ex‑MP Hüseyin Çelik, has claimed that the government’s recently launched “Terror‑Free Turkey” process did not emerge from a carefully designed state strategy, but from a unilateral move by Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli. Çelik argued that the AKP accepted the initiative primarily to avoid endangering its alliance with the MHP. “The AKP had to say ‘okay’ so as not to lose its partner,” he said, adding, “This is why the start was not healthy.”

Speaking to Yeni Yaşam newspaper, Çelik said he did not believe there had been “comprehensive preparation” or any serious “plus‑minus calculation” before the process was set in motion. “I don’t think a thorough groundwork was done on this issue,” he noted. “Mr Bahçeli effectively launched the process by way of a fait accompli.”

According to Çelik, Bahçeli’s public remarks in favor of a “Terror‑Free Turkey” suddenly created a new agenda inside the government and took many within the AKP by surprise. The party leadership, he suggested, was unable to challenge Bahçeli’s move because of its dependence on the MHP within the ruling “People’s Alliance” (Cumhur İttifakı). “Objecting to this would have risked the alliance, so the AKP could not raise a serious objection,” he said.

Çelik contended that there is no unified decision‑making center in Ankara capable of coherently managing such a sensitive process. In his view, the initiative is proceeding without a clear framework or roadmap. “If there had been a settled plan,” he argued, “questions such as whether there would be visits to İmralı, what would be done about the armed elements in the mountains and abroad, and under what conditions certain figures could enter politics would have been clarified.”

The reference to İmralı concerns Abdullah Öcalan, the imprisoned leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), who has been held on İmralı Island since 1999. Çelik recalled that Bahçeli himself has, at times, hinted that Öcalan could even be allowed to speak in Parliament as part of a broader settlement. He contrasted these suggestions with the continued imprisonment of individuals “who are in jail simply for expressing their thoughts,” calling attention to what he described as a striking inconsistency.

“The process was presented to society without preparation,” Çelik said, claiming that the public was confronted with rapid developments in the absence of a transparent plan. In his assessment, the government has not demonstrated the capacity to anticipate and manage the political, legal and social consequences of such an initiative. “There is no government image that can make these calculations. The process started without foundations,” he asserted.