Kurtulmuş: Door Toward a 'Terror-Free Turkey' Has Now Opened

Rastinews — 🔶 Speaker of Turkey's Grand National Assembly Numan Kurtulmuş said parliament had witnessed a "historic day" after lawmakers passed the National Solidarity and Social Integration Law by a vote of 467 to 0.

Recalling that the parliamentary commission's work began on Aug. 5, 2025, Kurtulmuş said: "That was the door opening a crack on the road to a Terror-Free Turkey. With today's result, that door has swung open."

Kurtulmuş said a new era had begun, and that once the organization laid down its arms and dissolved itself, Turkey would build a process in which "calm, peace, brotherhood and solidarity" would prevail.

Kurtulmuş thanked, on behalf of the nation, all those whose efforts had brought the process this far, and said:

"First of all, our President's political will has lent this process enormous strength from the outset and given great support to clearing its path forward. In the same way, Nationalist Movement Party leader Devlet Bahçeli followed the process closely in parliament today from 11 a.m. until the session's close, and it was his extraordinary command of the issue and his forward-looking proposals at every difficult juncture that brought us to this point. I offer my sincere thanks to the 50 fellow lawmakers who diligently supported the commission's work, to all political parties — the party known at the time as the Republican People's Party, the DEM Party, the New Way Group — and to all colleagues who joined from every other party without a parliamentary group. From the start, the AK Party Group, as parliament's largest party, has also provided tremendous leadership to the process at every stage. My thanks go out to all our colleagues for their efforts."

"A Terror-Free Turkey Is Also the Building of a Turkish Model"

Kurtulmuş said today had once again shown how much intensive effort had gone into reaching this historic turning point for Turkey, and continued:

"This point was reached through extremely painstaking work. What was produced was not simply a bill. Every detail was weighed word by word, sentence by sentence, to get here. At times we passed through very difficult political turns. There, too, back-channel diplomacy sometimes secured a shared direction for everyone. This is an extraordinarily important matter. There is also a further significance to how this process arrived at this point: we have argued from the start that the Terror-Free Turkey goal, which began with the work of the Commission on National Solidarity, Brotherhood and Democracy, is also the building of a Turkish model. Unlike every other precedent around the world, it needed no third eye — it is an effort built entirely from within, on Turkey's own political resolve and the strength of the Grand National Assembly."

"This Shows the Nation Has Also Embraced the Process Through Its Political Parties"

Kurtulmuş noted that the process had at times drawn criticism, and said:

"We keep hearing comments that overreach their point, particularly claims that 'parliament has no power left' or 'parliament has no influence left' under the new presidential system of government. The deliberation carried out here today, and the political resolve produced by it, demonstrate that parliament holds extraordinary power, and that this political power is one of Turkey's most important achievements. I thank all of our colleagues for their efforts. I congratulate all the political parties that contributed to this process, along with their leaders and chairs. This success does not belong to a single party — it belongs to the whole of Turkey. We will now follow the process ahead closely and carefully, and we will show even more clearly that the nation has embraced it. May it be auspicious."

Kurtulmuş said he recognized that the media, too, had made a strongly positive contribution to the process from the outset. "Aside from occasional comments that overreached their point, the vast majority of the media approached this process with reason, understanding and fairness, offering constructive views for Turkey," he said. "Through you, I would like to extend my thanks to all our media organizations for the support they have given this process."

Asked about the 467 votes in favor of the bill, Kurtulmuş said: "This is something very rarely seen. Even constitutional votes don't produce this level of consensus. It is an extraordinarily significant matter. It shows that the nation has also embraced this process through its political parties. Had the parties' rank and file, the people who back these parties, not given their support, lawmakers and the parties they belong to could not have delivered backing on this scale. It is a historic achievement, and that is why we attach such importance to it. It also shows something else: that when Turkey works at something properly and negotiates it painstakingly, it has the political capacity to overcome even its most difficult problem through consensus."

Answering a question about the commission the legislation calls for setting up in parliament, Kurtulmuş said: "God willing, the process from here will run smoothly. For tonight, let us all, as a nation, come together and embrace parliament's great achievement."

In a message posted on social media, Kurtulmuş said the National Solidarity and Social Integration Bill had passed into law with broad consensus, adopted by parliament's General Assembly with 467 votes.

Kurtulmuş said the step drew its strength from the nation's centuries-old spirit of unity and brotherhood, and was a historic move toward the goal of a Terror-Free Turkey. He added:

"The 'Terror-Free Turkey' goal, which began with the work of the Commission on National Solidarity, Brotherhood and Democracy, is also the building of a Turkish model. Needing no third eye, and unlike every other precedent elsewhere in the world, it is an effort produced entirely from within Turkey's own political resolve and the strength of the Grand National Assembly. We believe that the resolve shown in our Gazi Assembly will form the foundation of a historic beginning that will build the Turkey of centuries to come. God willing, Turkey will leave every trace of terrorism behind, consign it to history, and walk toward a stronger future in unity, brotherhood and solidarity.

I extend my gratitude for the resolve and outstanding leadership shown toward achieving the 'Terror-Free Turkey' goal — first to our President, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and to Nationalist Movement Party leader Devlet Bahçeli, whose forward-looking proposals made a great contribution to the process — as well as to the leaders of our political parties, to all the parliamentary groups that acted in our General Assembly with prudence, responsibility and national sensitivity, to our esteemed lawmakers, and to everyone whose efforts went into this. May it be good for our country and our nation."