18.05.2026 09:41
Chief Advisor to the President and Deputy Head of the Presidential Legal Policies Board Mehmet Uçum: The transition process to a terror-free Turkey continues strongly under the leadership of our President Erdoğan, the determined and uncompromising approach of Mr. Bahçeli, the strong will of the People's Alliance, and the meticulous efforts of state institutions.
With the aim of permanently freeing Turkey from the systematic terrorist threat both domestically and in the region, eliminating the terrorist tutelage over certain parts of democratic politics, and ending the language, social, economic, and cultural effects of terrorism in all spheres, the state has initiated a transition process in which it will take a comprehensive step, and in this framework, it has developed a new paradigm.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who holds the constitutional title of head of state, explained this paradigm in detail during the Ahlat and Malazgirt programs on August 25-26, 2024, at the Victory Day event on August 30, 2024, and in his speech on the new legislative year of the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TBMM) on October 1, 2024. MHP Chairman Devlet Bahçeli, who possesses great experience and wisdom, has made pioneering initiatives in this regard.
The transition process to a Terror-Free Turkey continues strongly under the leadership of our President Erdoğan, the determined and uncompromising approach of Mr. Bahçeli, the strong will of the People's Alliance, and the meticulous efforts of state institutions.
The transition process toward the goal of a Terror-Free Turkey, which began as a state initiative and continues as a state policy, has reached a very significant stage by converging with the aim of a terror-free region during this period. Visible since October 1, 2024, the transition process to a Terror-Free Turkey has reached the threshold of achieving its goal with many advancements over the past 20 months.
Progress in the transition process
The main highlights of progress in the transition process can be listed as follows:
• On February 27, 2025, Öcalan's historic and generally binding call was published. The meaning and function of this call need to be emphasized. The basic feature of the call is the complete abandonment of status demands because they are not in line with objective reality. The main purpose of the call is integration with the state and society. The single state and single nation approach is the backbone of the call. The scope of the call includes all elements and relations of the PKK in the region and Europe. The method of struggle in the call has been adopted as democratic politics. No other path will be considered legitimate. The perspective of the call has been determined as producing politics to achieve a more advanced democracy. All elements of the dissolved PKK and related legal political channels are bound at every stage by this framework and content of the call.
• On May 12, 2025, the decision to dissolve the terrorist organization was announced.
• On July 11, 2025, a weapons burning ceremony was held.
• Although symbolic due to the extremely minimal presence of the terrorist organization domestically, the organization's decision to withdraw from Turkey was also an important step.
• With our President Erdoğan's historic "Brotherhood Manifesto" speech on July 12, 2025, the goal of a Terror-Free Turkey advanced to a higher stage.
• At this higher stage, the "National Solidarity, Brotherhood, and Democracy Commission" was established in the TBMM on August 5, 2025.
Activity and report of the TBMM Commission
The TBMM National Solidarity, Brotherhood, and Democracy Commission, a qualitative stage of the process, completed its report on February 18, 2026, and fulfilled its duty. Established with a high level of representation, the Commission assumed a historical responsibility and duly carried it out.
It should be noted that the report of the TBMM National Solidarity, Brotherhood, and Democracy Commission strengthens social consent regarding the transition process from a legal policy perspective. It is extremely important that the Commission report draws a clear framework regarding the law of the transition process.
• According to the Commission, it is necessary for the state's security units to determine and confirm that all elements of the dissolved PKK terrorist organization have laid down their arms and dissolved themselves, and a mechanism for this determination and confirmation must be in place.
• The Commission reached a general consensus on the need to make legal arrangements required for the dissolution of the organization with all its elements and the process of handing over and laying down arms.
• In the report, it was stated that there is a need for a purpose-specific, independent, and temporary legal regulation in terms of transition process law that will also strengthen integration with society.
• Again in the report, in addition to an independent and temporary law, references were made to criminal and execution law regulations, and the necessity of judicial proceedings regarding members of the dissolved organization was pointed out. It was also emphasized that the regulations and procedures to be made should not create a perception of impunity and amnesty in society.
• The report proposed the establishment of a monitoring and reporting mechanism within the executive branch for the transition process. It stated that this mechanism is deemed necessary both to inform the public and to submit its reports to the TBMM.
As seen, the report of the TBMM Commission has clearly and indisputably laid out the legal and practical roadmap for the transition to a Terror-Free Turkey.
What needs to be done in the final stage of the transition process is to take the steps specified in the Commission report. In this respect, while the TBMM prepares the necessary legal regulations for the law of the transition process, the acceleration of the disarmament and dissolution process in a way that allows for the determination and confirmation of the elements of the dissolved organization are expected developments. The matter of conducting these simultaneously is, of course, at the discretion of the TBMM. The TBMM has the authority to enact the independent and temporary law subject to conditions such as dissolution and definitive disarmament. Additionally, regarding the temporariness of the law, the TBMM may also grant the President the authority to extend the period regulated in the law for a number of times and reasonable durations it deems appropriate. Ultimately, the TBMM is capable of making any flexible regulation in accordance with the transition process framework outlined in the report of the Commission established within it. It is also observed that the entire public has high expectations from the TBMM in this regard.
Alongside the transition process approach, it is foreseeable that the recommendations and evaluations regarding strengthening democracy included in the report, aimed at the democracy perspective in the Commission's name, will also be effective for the TBMM. Because, as stated in the last sentence of the report, it is a matter noted by the Commission that the opinions and evaluations in the report should be taken as a basis, or at least taken into account, in legislative work. Considering the high representative power of the Commission, it can be easily said that the report is an important reference document for legal regulations for the TBMM. Of course, it may not be possible to reach a consensus on all the recommendations in the report from a democratic perspective. Even so, it can be assessed that the report will be encouraging for many legal regulations.
Completion of the transition process
Looking at the elements of completing the transition process, it can be said that from now on, the predominant issues in the process are practical matters, while legal regulations occupy proportionally less space. This assessment is in terms of workload. It does not mean that legal regulations are less important.
Looking at the elements of the definitive and permanent elimination of systematic terrorism, the following can be listed: the elimination of active terrorist practice, the elimination of practices supporting active terrorism, the elimination of the language established and nurtured in the shadow of terrorism in all spheres, and the elimination of terrorist tutelage over democratic politics are the main requirements.
Another important issue is the "illegitimate and top-down cadre guardianship" established over democratic politics through illegal structures, whether old or new style. The complete elimination of this problem and the prevention of such attempts in the future is a significant dimension of the liquidation process. In a complementary manner, it can be expected that the liquidation process will be largely completed through judicial proceedings and social integration efforts concerning members of the dissolved organization.
The importance of political language and instilling confidence in the whole society
It is well known how important the language used in the transition process in general, and political language in particular, is. This issue has been on the agenda in the past. For instance, it is not possible to simultaneously speak of both "political prisoners" and legal reform, because if ideological-political characterizations are made, it becomes impossible to discuss the need for change in positive law based on these characterizations that have no place in the current legal system. Of course, everyone has a responsibility regarding language. However, it is also clear that the counterparts with whom the state engages in dialogue during the transition process must assume greater responsibility.
In this context, it is an indisputable need for these counterparts to instill confidence in all segments of society and address concerns. Taking into account Öcalan's firm will on this matter, it would be very effective and appropriate for related elements and legal structures to explicitly state that the politics of terror and violence are illegitimate, and to emphasize that the language of returning to arms, whether used openly or implicitly, must be completely abandoned. This is also what society expects.
Again, in line with Öcalan's perspective of integration with the state and society, it is indisputably crucial to abandon efforts to place an ethnic political style at the forefront of Turkish politics and to turn it into a condition of the transition process. For example, it is necessary to recognize the qualitative difference between the past use of the term "Kurdistan" as a geographical region name and its current use for ethnic politics. The approach of referencing past usage to legitimize current ethnic political usage is not correct. Today, the name "Kurdistan" used as a tool of ethnic politics should be evaluated based on the problems of this usage. The issue is not about who is right or wrong, but that ethnic politics is being placed ahead of Turkey's unity. It should not be forgotten that constructing language by considering the Turkish nation's immutable acceptances and sensitivities regarding Turkey's unity and the fundamental elements of that unity will contribute to the transition process.
The dialogue the state conducts with the counterparts of the transition process is a contact aimed at the definitive and continuous elimination of terrorism from all channels. The purpose of the dialogue is to ensure the smoothest possible completion of the transition process to a Terror-Free Turkey. Attributing different meanings to the dialogue or moving it to areas not directly related to its main channel will only waste time in the transition process. It is an accepted fact by all that conducting the dialogue in line with its purpose is very important for completing the transition process with minimal issues.
Of course, with the completion of the transition process to a Terror-Free Turkey, the counterparts of this process who meet the appropriate legal conditions can become more effective by adopting guardian-free democratic politics. They can contribute much more as legitimate actors in democratic processes aimed at the whole of Turkish society, involving all segments of the Turkish people, in developing democracy, strengthening social policies, and conducting democratic negotiations on all national issues. From that point onward, the dynamics of democratic development will become decisive.
As emphasized before, let no absurd conclusions be drawn from these assessments, such as that democratic development moves are being postponed until after the transition process. The transition process itself is a historic development that expands the field of democratic politics and contributes to democracy. Advancing democracy and the transition process are intertwined. However, all the conditions for a comprehensive democracy and legal reform involving the entire society will only be established upon the completion of the transition process.
Let us leave the final word to the statements made by our President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on the plane returning from Kazakhstan:
"We are determined. We will not make those who do not want the 'Terror-Free Turkey' goal happy; we will not give them the opportunity. We will overcome all obstacles with dignity and definitely reach the 'Terror-Free Turkey' goal."