Erdoğan says anti-terror campaign 'reaches new crossroads'
ANKARA
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Nov. 5 said his government's anti-terrorism initiative has reached a "new crossroads," with additional steps expected in the coming days.
"We are taking firm steps toward a terror-free Türkiye,” Erdoğan told MPs from his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) during a parliamentary meeting.
As part of the campaign, PKK has decided to disband and withdraw all its forces from Türkiye to northern Iraq.
"Acting in full solidarity as the [ruling] People's Alliance, we will first achieve a terror-free Türkiye, then our goal of a terror-free region," he said.
"It appears we have reached a new crossroads on... this path. Everyone must put their shoulder to the wheel on this issue, support the process and focus on contributing as much as possible."
His remarks followed a meeting on Oct. 30 with Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) MPs Pervin Buldan and Mithat Sancar. The pro-Kurdish party is engaging in dialogue with jailed PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan as part of the peace bid.
Erdoğan described the meeting as “constructive” and said the parties shared concerns about proceeding with caution.
"A terror-free Türkiye is a powerful Türkiye that has broken the rusty chains on its feet. A terror-free Türkiye is a happy Türkiye living in peace and tranquility," Erdoğan said.
"A terror-free Türkiye is the sign of a successful, victorious and respected Türkiye that will be a scene of tremendous brotherhood and embrace."
Erdoğan credited progress in the initiative to his "determined and resolute stance, the courageous and visionary contributions of ally Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli and the AKP's intensive efforts to embrace all segments of society."
He said a comprehensive report, expected soon from a parliamentary commission overseeing the process, will outline a legal roadmap.
"We are continuing our work without paying attention to provocations and without giving in to secret or open attempts to sabotage the process," Erdoğan said.
He also argued that recent parliamentary resolutions extending Türkiye's military mandates in Syria and Iraq support, rather than complicate, efforts for a “terror-free Türkiye.”
The main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) said the extensions undermine the initiative, as the DEM Party described the decree as illegitimate and counterproductive.
"We all see that neither war resolutions nor security policies have solved the problems in Türkiye or the region," MP Gülistan Kılıç Koçyiğit said at a press conference on Oct. 20.
