Anti-terror panel hosts think tanks as proposal stage nears
ANKARA
A parliamentary commission tasked with reviewing the government’s "terror-free Türkiye" initiative heard testimony from several think tanks on Sept. 24 as it moved closer to drafting legislative proposals.
The National Solidarity, Brotherhood and Democracy Commission convened its 12th session Sept. 24, taking input from groups including the Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research (SETA), Dicle Social Research Center (DİTAM), Rawest Research, the Kurdish Studies Center (KSC) and the Ecopolitical Culture, Education and Research Foundation (EKEAV).
Representatives from the Ankara Institute, the Turkish Economic Policy Research Foundation (TEPAV), the Center for Socio-Political Field Research (SAHAM) and the Center for Middle East Studies (ORSAM) also testified.
The panel has been reviewing the legal, social and political dimensions of the government’s anti-terrorism effort. Under the initiative, PKK declared a ceasefire and later announced plans to disarm and dissolve following a call from its imprisoned leader, Abdullah Öcalan.
"Some 830 pages of minutes have been prepared. We are now gradually approaching the end of this consultation phase,” Parliamentary Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş, the panel's head, told the session.
"In the coming period, we will prepare the proposals that we will submit to the TBMM [Turkish parliament]."
In the commission's previous sessions, views were gathered from cabinet ministers, intelligence officials, bar associations, relatives of fallen soldiers, labor unions, business groups, nongovernmental organizations and academics.
