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PKK terrorist group's disarmament could begin "within days" as part of Türkiye's terror-free initiative, according to Türkiye's ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) spokesman Omer Celik, who outlined an accelerated timeline for the process during a press conference at party headquarters.
Speaking after a consultation meeting with lawmakers chaired by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Celik indicated that what was initially projected to take months has now progressed to a matter of days.
"In the context of a terror-free Türkiye, the process has progressed correctly within its scheduled timeline. We now expect results in the coming days," he said.
"When you first asked about this weeks ago, I said we expected it to happen within months. Then at our last press conference, I said within weeks. Now we're at a stage where it will happen within days," Celik added.
When asked about the current status of the terror-free Türkiye initiative, Celik confirmed that President Erdogan will receive a Kurdish-oriented Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) delegation next week.
"Our President will receive the DEM Party delegation next week. Of course, which day it will be is at the discretion of our President. It will probably be finalized at the beginning of the week, and when the president's schedule is set, this will be announced; you will all hear it. This reception will take place next week," he said.
Regarding the timeline for PKK's disarmament process, Celik indicated significant acceleration in the schedule, stating: "I don't want to give a definite timetable at this stage. The work on this subject is progressing correctly within its own nature and timetable, within the framework of our work, in its own rhythm."
"When you first asked about this weeks ago, I said we expect this to happen within months. Then, at our last press conference, I said within weeks. Now we are at a stage where it will happen within days. Therefore, the coming days will be extremely important for a Terror-Free Türkiye," Celik explained.
The spokesman emphasized that President Erdogan's speech would be important for the framework of the terror-free Türkiye initiative.
"Here, of course, we are saying two things together. We say 'Terror-Free Türkiye' on the one hand while on the other, we see that this will be a source of inspiration for our region and will contribute to the emergence of a terror-free region," Celik stated.
"For a very long time, terrorist organizations have been used as an element of proxy war. Looking at the latest attack on a church in Syria in the region, a terrorist organization again claimed responsibility. Therefore, 'Terror-Free Türkiye' and 'Terror-Free Region' are valuable for the people of the region to move away from the burden of this terrorism and to be able to look ahead more correctly and comfortably," he continued.
Celik acknowledged citizens' legitimate questions and concerns about the process by saying, "Here, our citizens rightfully have questions and doubts. I want it to be known that we receive all of them with great respect. As politicians, as a political institution, we answer all of these in the places we go, we will continue to answer them. We will provide these answers in the coming period as well."
"All this work is being carried out before the eyes of our nation within the framework of the principle of 'one homeland, one nation, one state, one flag' as expressed by our President," he added.
The spokesman noted that the process, which began with calls from the People's Alliance, has now become "state policy."
"Mr. Devlet Bahceli's historic call, which will be put forward by our President in the following period, and today it is a policy of the Republic of Türkiye, the 'Terror-Free Türkiye' policy," Celik stated.
Celik acknowledged the presence of numerous disinformation attempts while confirming ongoing consultations between parties.
"There is a lot of disinformation, and we see and respond to these clearly. There have already been consultations between parties, there have been visit exchanges, and all of these are valuable. Therefore, within the framework of the nation's will and the authority given by the nation, this process has come to this stage quite correctly on its own schedule. From now on, Allah willing, we expect these results to emerge within days," he said.
When asked about European media reports regarding positive responses to Türkiye's Eurofighter procurement process, Celik emphasized Türkiye's essential role in European security.
"One of the issues that Europe and the European Union do not understand was essentially that, without Türkiye, there would be no social peace in Europe, and there would be no security either," he said.
Celik criticized past European policies by stating: "Türkiye is taking steps to protect its own security against attacks on its national sovereignty. Türkiye is ensuring its own security. But this has always made a positive contribution to European security, either indirectly or automatically."
"Therefore, preventing the weapons systems that Türkiye desires through some sanctions and similar practices actually came to the agenda as a result of a great lack of vision and great political intellectual poverty," he added.
Regarding the current state of defense cooperation, Celik noted improvements by saying: "But once again it was seen that looking at the emerging picture, that is, when you look at all these conflict zones and the regions where these conflict zones have the potential to spread, European security cannot even be defined without Türkiye."
"In this framework, we see that a better point has been reached in all these issues we are talking about. We see that a more positive stage has been reached. What is important is that concrete steps are taken urgently in Eurofighter and other matters after this stage," he concluded.
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