Parliamentary panel to hear think tanks on anti-terror drive

ANKARA

A parliamentary commission overseeing the government’s “terror-free Türkiye” initiative will hear from several think tanks on Sept. 24 as it continues consultations on legal and political reforms.

The National Solidarity, Brotherhood and Democracy Commission is scheduled to hold its 12th session with testimony 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 Center for Socio-Political Field Research (SAHAM), the Turkish Economic Policy Research Foundation (TEPAV) and the Center for Middle East Studies (ORSAM) are also slated to share views with lawmakers.

The panel has been tasked with reviewing the legal, social and political aspects of the government’s anti-terrorism campaign. Under the initiative, PKK declared a ceasefire and later announced plans to disarm and dissolve following a call from its imprisoned leader, Abdullah Öcalan.

So far, the commission has held 11 sessions, hearing testimony from cabinet ministers, intelligence officials, bar associations, relatives of fallen soldiers, labor unions, business groups, nongovernmental organizations and academics.

Lawmakers are expected to draft reform proposals after the consultations are concluded. The panel is also reportedly weighing whether to send a delegation to the İmralı prison island off Istanbul to meet Öcalan, a move supported by the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party).