Turkey's speaker starts party talks on a committee to monitor PKK disarmament, beginning with the CHP

Turkey's parliament speaker, Numan Kurtulmuş, began a three-day round of meetings with party groups on Tuesday, November 10, to set up the parliamentary committee that is meant to oversee the PKK's disarmament under the "framework law" passed in August. He met CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu for about 40 minutes behind closed doors, then the Yeni Yol group, and is due to see the DEM Party and the governing AKP on Wednesday and the MHP on Thursday. Neither side made a statement after the first meeting. The New Party of Özgür Özel, which cast the most votes against the law, is not yet on the schedule.

The committee is the next formal step in what the government calls the "terror-free Türkiye" process and what the DEM Party calls the peace and democratic society process. Its size, its powers and who sits on it are still open. The DEM Party, which has pressed for faster progress, wants a committee with full powers that reports to both parliament and the public.

A closed-door start with the CHP#

The meeting took place in Kılıçdaroğlu's office in parliament and lasted about 40 minutes, according to Haberler.com, which reported that the two exchanged views on the monitoring committee to be set up under the Law on Strengthening National Solidarity and Social Integration. T24 put the meeting at 35 minutes and said no statement was made afterward. T24 described Kılıçdaroğlu as the chairman returned to office by a court's "absolute nullity" ruling, a reference to the decision that reinstated him as CHP leader; our earlier reporting covered the immunity and leadership fight between Kılıçdaroğlu's CHP and Özel's New Party.

T24 reported that Kurtulmuş ended Tuesday's visits with the Yeni Yol group and will visit the DEM Party and the AKP on November 11 and the MHP on Thursday, November 12. It said the New Party, which is preparing for a party congress, was not yet on Kurtulmuş's schedule.

The Hürriyet Daily News, an English-language daily, said the committee will have three tasks: overseeing the law's implementation, monitoring the PKK's disarmament and dissolution, and working on further legislation if needed. In a statement on November 9, Kurtulmuş described the effort as a "Türkiye model" that other countries facing similar problems could use, the paper reported.

What the framework law does#

The law, formally the Law on Strengthening National Solidarity and Social Integration, has 12 articles. BBC Türkçe summarized its main mechanics. It sets up individual applications by members of the PKK, KCK and linked groups, with a six-month window, and a procedure to confirm and check each case. It creates an eight-member evaluation and coordination council and a monitoring body in parliament. It does not grant an amnesty, BBC Türkçe reported; instead it allows investigations, prosecutions and sentences to be deferred and, if conditions are met, dropped. Serious crimes are excluded, as are people serving aggravated life sentences for crimes before 2005. Any return to politics is subject to a council decision.

The deferral takes effect only after the state confirms that the organization has laid down its arms in the field, according to Son Dakika, which reported in October that weapons had been handed over to state institutions from some caves in the Metina area of northern Iraq. The Hürriyet Daily News said legal proceedings against certain PKK members would be postponed for five to 10 years once disarmament is complete.

Supporters reject the description of the law as an amnesty. MHP deputy Feti Yıldız told parliament in August, according to DW Türkçe, that the bill "does not remove convictions, change the legal nature of crimes or end criminal liability," and that some critics called it an amnesty "without reading the law's justification."

How the parties voted in August#

The law passed on August 10, 2026, by 467 votes to 87, with 7 abstentions, which state news agency Anadolu called a "record" tally. The chart shows the yes votes by party group as Anadolu reported them.

AKP

268

DEM Party

55

MHP

44

New Party

35

CHP

29

Yeni Yol

16

Independents

7

HÜDA PAR

4

TİP

3

EMEP

2

DBP

2

Source: Anadolu Agency

Show the numbers

Party	Yes votes
AKP	268
DEM Party	55
MHP	44
New Party	35
CHP	29
Yeni Yol	16
Independents	7
HÜDA PAR	4
TİP	3
EMEP	2
DBP	2

The no votes were concentrated in two places. All 29 İYİ Party members voted against, as did 54 New Party members, 2 from the CHP, 1 from the Democrat Party and 1 independent, Anadolu reported. The abstentions came from Yeniden Refah leader Fatih Erbakan and three of his party's deputies, plus three Yeni Yol members.

The New Party's split reflects an internal compromise. DW Türkçe reported that the party left its deputies free to vote as they chose, and that its own polling showed only about 10% of its base supported the bill. Özel told parliament that he and his executives would vote yes "in historical consistency and responsibility," while deputies would vote according to what voters in their provinces said. Our earlier reporting covers the state of the process and Abdullah Öcalan's new quarters on İmralı.

Where the CHP and smaller parties stood#

The CHP, whose leader opened Kurtulmuş's tour, backed the law in August. Speaking for the CHP group, Kars deputy İnan Akgün Alp said the party would act "not only as one that gives support, but as one that takes responsibility and leads," according to DW Türkçe. Most CHP deputies who voted said yes, though 14 did not take part in the vote and 2 voted no, Anadolu reported.

The Saadet Party gave what its leader called conditional support. "We say yes to an end to terror, to the silencing of weapons, to brotherhood, to rights and freedoms and to the rule of law," Mahmut Arıkan told parliament, as quoted by DW Türkçe. "But we say no to legitimizing violence, to sidelining the national will, to processes run behind closed doors."

These positions matter for the committee because its makeup is still under negotiation. The size options reported in October ranged from 15 to 23 members, and the reports we reviewed did not say how seats would be shared among parties.

Why the process matters#

The Hürriyet Daily News reported that the government's effort, launched in late 2024, calls for the PKK's full disarmament and dissolution. The paper said the conflict has claimed more than 40,000 lives over several decades. The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union.

The DEM Party wants speed and a stronger committee#

DEM Party spokesperson Ayşegül Doğan said on November 5 that the steps due after the framework law were running late, and she asked Kurtulmuş to finish his talks with the parties the following week, according to Gazeteciler Platformu. She said the process was at "a critical moment" because developments foreseen by the law were expected. Both government and opposition, she said, should carry out what is needed "without turning it into a subject of political polemic."

Doğan also called for the release of prisoners in the Kobani case on the tenth anniversary of the November 4, 2016, arrests of HDP politicians, and for journalists to be allowed to visit Öcalan. Son Dakika reported in October that a narrower committee of 15 to 20 or 17 to 23 members was the leading option, while the DEM Party wanted it to be "fully empowered and inclusive" and to inform both parliament and society.

During the August debate, DEM co-chair Tuncer Bakırhan told parliament, as quoted by DW Türkçe, that the law was "not a concession, nor winning or losing" for anyone. "We are not opening the country's unity to debate. What brings this country closer to division is conflict," he said. "The homeland is shared."

Critics say parliament has been sidelined#

The İYİ Party opposes the law, though it says it does not object to disarming a terrorist organization. Its leader, Müsavat Dervişoğlu, said in the August debate that the bill had been approved by "the terror convict on İmralı" and hidden from the nation, and that parliament had been "reduced to a registry office," according to Ortadoğu, a nationalist daily. He argued that peace processes in Colombia, Northern Ireland, Spain, Indonesia and South Africa did not grant legal relief before disarmament was objectively verified. "A legal step is a reward; it is earned first, then given," he said. DW Türkçe reported that Dervişoğlu also said the law's real aim was "to open the way for Erdoğan to remain president for life," referring to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Yeniden Refah took a different line. Erbakan argued that the law should be put to a referendum, so that the families of soldiers and police killed in the conflict, veterans and the nation could decide on the PKK members' cases, according to the Turkish parliament's own report of the debate. His party abstained.

The next steps after Thursday#

Kurtulmuş's round ends with the MHP on November 12. After that, the speaker is expected to hold negotiations with party representatives on the committee's structure, based on the views he has collected, Son Dakika reported in October. No date has been announced for the committee's formation, its membership or its first meeting. The government has not published a timetable for the confirmation of disarmament that the deferrals depend on.

1. 2026-08-10Parliament passes the framework law, 467 to 87
2. 2026-11-05DEM Party asks Kurtulmuş to finish party talks within a week
3. 2026-11-09Kurtulmuş calls the process a "Türkiye model"
4. 2026-11-10Kurtulmuş meets the CHP and Yeni Yol groups
5. 2026-11-11Meetings with the DEM Party and the AKP scheduled
6. 2026-11-12Meeting with the MHP scheduled

Source: Anadolu Agency, Gazeteciler Platformu, T24

The meetings come during a crowded week for parliament, which is also hearing ministry budgets, including the justice minister's clash with the New Party over the fund probe. Lawmakers have also been debating a defense pact with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.

How we reported this#

The meeting schedule comes from T24 and Haberler.com, Turkish news sites that reported on Tuesday's visits; neither party issued a readout. The law's provisions are summarized from BBC Türkçe, and the vote count from Anadolu, the state news agency. Party positions come from their leaders' speeches in parliament as reported by DW Türkçe, Ortadoğu and the parliament's own news service, and from the DEM Party spokesperson's press conference as reported by Gazeteciler Platformu. We did not have access to the full text of the law and have not described articles beyond what these sources report.

Differing perspectives

How should Turkey's parliament set up and run the committee that will monitor the PKK disarmament law?

Each position is summarized as its supporters make it, with equal weight and in alphabetical order. A summary is not an endorsement; the evidence for each is weighed in the story above.

• Build it through talks with every party

  Who holds it: Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş and the governing AKP-MHP alliance

  Kurtulmuş is meeting each party group before the committee is formed, so that its structure reflects views from across parliament. Supporters say the committee will oversee the law, monitor the PKK's disarmament and dissolution, and prepare further legislation if needed. Kurtulmuş has called the effort a Türkiye model that other countries facing armed conflict could use, and MHP lawmakers say the law defers cases rather than granting an amnesty.

  In their words: Hürriyet Daily News ↗

• Form a fully empowered committee quickly

  Who holds it: DEM Party, including spokesperson Ayşegül Doğan

  The DEM Party says the steps due after the framework law are running late and that the process is at a critical moment. It wants Speaker Kurtulmuş to finish his party talks within a week and to set up a committee with full powers that informs both parliament and the public. It argues that both government and opposition should carry out what the law requires without turning it into a political fight, and it has called for the release of prisoners in the Kobani case.

  In their words: Gazeteciler Platformu ↗

• Let voters decide in a referendum

  Who holds it: Yeniden Refah Party and its leader Fatih Erbakan

  Yeniden Refah argues that a decision on the cases of PKK and KCK members is too weighty for parliament alone. Erbakan told the chamber that the families of soldiers and police killed in the conflict, veterans and the nation as a whole should decide, and that the law should therefore go to a referendum. His party abstained rather than voting for or against the bill.

  In their words: Grand National Assembly of Türkiye ↗

• Verify disarmament before any legal relief

  Who holds it: İYİ Party and its leader Müsavat Dervişoğlu

  The İYİ Party says it does not oppose disarming a terrorist organization but objects to how the law was written. Dervişoğlu argues that parliament was reduced to a registry office for a text shaped outside it. He says peace processes in Colombia, Northern Ireland and elsewhere granted legal relief only after disarmament was objectively verified, and that this law reverses that order. In his view a legal step is a reward that must be earned first.

  In their words: Ortadoğu ↗

{{cite news |title=Turkey's speaker starts party talks on a committee to monitor PKK disarmament, beginning with the CHP |url=https://567politics.com/news/turkey-kurtulmus-party-tour-monitoring-committee-framework-law-chp-dem-akp-mhp-november-2026 |work=567politics |author=567 Politics staff |date=2026-11-10 |language=en}}

{
  "id": "https://567politics.com/news/turkey-kurtulmus-party-tour-monitoring-committee-framework-law-chp-dem-akp-mhp-november-2026",
  "type": "article-newspaper",
  "title": "Turkey's speaker starts party talks on a committee to monitor PKK disarmament, beginning with the CHP",
  "URL": "https://567politics.com/news/turkey-kurtulmus-party-tour-monitoring-committee-framework-law-chp-dem-akp-mhp-november-2026",
  "container-title": "567politics",
  "language": "en",
  "author": [
    {
      "literal": "567 Politics staff"
    }
  ],
  "issued": {
    "date-parts": [
      [
        2026,
        11,
        10
      ]
    ]
  }
}

<iframe src="https://567politics.com/embed/news/turkey-kurtulmus-party-tour-monitoring-committee-framework-law-chp-dem-akp-mhp-november-2026?theme=auto" title="Turkey's speaker starts party talks on a committee to monitor PKK disarmament, beginning with the CHP by 567politics" width="100%" height="440" style="border:0;max-width:100%" loading="lazy"></iframe>
<p style="font-size:14px">Turkey's speaker starts party talks on a committee to monitor PKK disarmament, beginning with the CHP by <a href="https://567politics.com/news/turkey-kurtulmus-party-tour-monitoring-committee-framework-law-chp-dem-akp-mhp-november-2026" rel="nofollow">567politics</a></p>
<script async src="https://567politics.com/embed.js"></script>