Turkey’s parliament has begun debating a framework law intended to strengthen national solidarity and social integration, marking a significant political moment in efforts to end the country’s decades-old Kurdish conflict.
The 12-article bill, titled the “Law on Strengthening National Solidarity and Social Integration,” was approved by the Parliamentary Justice Commission on 8 August after 18 hours of discussions. It is now being debated in the General Assembly under an accelerated legislative procedure, according to NûMedya24.
The legislation has received support from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM). The CHP has also announced that it will vote in favour, while the İYİ Party plans to reject the proposal. The New Welfare Party has said it will abstain, citing reservations over provisions concerning possible amnesties and the restoration of political rights.
MHP deputy chairman Feti Yıldız said the process was not limited to a security policy but represented a broader state policy involving the rule of law, social support and economic development. He stressed that the bill was not an amnesty law and described it as part of the government’s objective of creating a “terror-free Turkey.”
AKP parliamentary group leader Abdullah Güler acknowledged that concerns and anxieties existed but called for a constructive approach to resolving the issue. He said the process represented an effort by Turks, Kurds, Alevis and Sunnis to address a longstanding national problem together.
Opposition leader Özgür Özel, meanwhile, said that he and party administrators would vote in favour of the bill, while allowing lawmakers to decide according to the views of voters in the provinces they represent. In remarks reported by NûMedya24, Özel said the Kurdish issue could not be reduced to terrorism, disarmament or security.
He described it as a question of equal citizenship, the rule of law, democratic representation, free politics and the right of citizens to live with their own identity, language, culture and faith. At the same time, he underlined that the republic, the unitary state structure and Turkey’s territorial integrity were “red lines.”
Özel said the bill should not be understood as an endorsement of the government or of closed-door negotiations. Rather, he argued, support was necessary to prevent further deaths and create an opportunity for peace. He insisted that any lasting settlement must be reached openly, through parliament and with public consent.
DEM Party co-chair Tuncer Bakırhan adopted a broader historical perspective. Addressing parliament, he said the Kurdish issue was being discussed for the first time in an ordinary legislative language based on written justification, negotiation and the possibility of objection. He called on parliament to “open the way to a new history” and described the bill as the first legal step towards resolving the conflict.
Bakırhan said democratic reforms, equality and the strengthening of political freedoms must follow when parliament reconvenes in October. He argued that democratic integration would be essential to making the peace process permanent.
“The republic must now become a home for all of us,” Bakırhan said, urging Turkey to move from conflict to peace, polarisation to cooperation and separation to common life and negotiation. His remarks were reported by NûMedya24.
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