Justice Minister Gürlek: 15-Article Framework Bill Heading to Parliament
RastinewsTurkey's Justice Minister Gürlek answered questions on current affairs during a television appearance.
Gürlek said the ongoing settlement process had reached a significant stage, describing it as a project of "national unity and brotherhood."
Speaking specifically about the framework law, Gürlek said:
"As far as I know, the Terror-Free Turkey process has reached a good stage. Parliament Speaker Numan Bey has also made a statement. Next week the bill will go to the Justice Committee first, and then it will move to the General Assembly of Parliament.
As I understand it, there is a 15-article text. Parliament is following that process, we are not part of it. As the Justice Ministry, we can only offer technical proposals during the drafting of laws, in whatever form they request. But this process needs to be completed as soon as possible.
There is no general amnesty provision in this. There is no arrangement tailored to any individual. Those are matters for Parliament to decide. So there is currently no arrangement or work underway on a general amnesty. But as you know, that could come onto the agenda whenever Parliament decides to legislate on it. Right now, this package only contains an arrangement concerning PKK members."
Gürlek also spoke about efforts on unsolved murder cases, noting that a Unit for Combating Unsolved Crimes had been established within the Justice Ministry's General Directorate of Criminal Affairs. He said 28 murders committed 20 to 25 years ago had been solved to date.
Gürlek said around 680 files had been taken up by the unit, including the cases of Uğur Mumcu, Çetin Emeç and Bahriye Üçok.