Commission to hear legal experts on anti-terror drive
ANKARA
A parliamentary commission overseeing the government's “terror-free Türkiye" initiative will hear from law associations and legal academics on Oct. 2 as it continues consultations on potential legal and political reforms.
The National Solidarity, Brotherhood and Democracy Commission is scheduled to hold its 13th session with testimony from representatives of the Lawyers' Association, Turkish Law Institute, Association of Lawyers for Freedom (ÖHD), Social Democratic Lawyers' Association (SODAD) and Legal Research Association (HUDER).
Several law professors, including Abdurrahman Eren, Fazıl Hüsnü Erdem, İlhan Üzülmez, Mahmut Koca and Bahri Öztür, are also slated to present their views to lawmakers.
The commission is tasked with reviewing the legal, social and political dimensions of the government’s anti-terrorism campaign. Under the initiative, PKK declared a ceasefire and later announced plans to disarm and dissolve following calls from imprisoned leader Abdullah Öcalan.
Previous sessions of the commission have gathered input from cabinet ministers, intelligence officials, bar associations, relatives of fallen soldiers, labor unions, business groups, NGOs, academics and think tanks. Lawmakers are expected to draft reform proposals once consultations are complete.
Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş, who chairs the panel, said on Sept. 26 that spy chief İbrahim Kalın and government ministers could revisit the commission to provide updates on the initiative.
Asked whether the commission would meet with Öcalan, Kurtulmuş said the matter had not yet been added to the agenda. “If it were brought to the agenda, the commission would make a decision by qualified majority, and we would abide by that,” he said.
