Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş began a round of meetings with political parties on Tuesday, 10 November, about a new parliamentary commission that will monitor the government’s "terror-free Türkiye" (Terörsüz Türkiye) process, Anadolu Agency (AA), İhlas News Agency (İHA) and ANKA reported.
The planned body would follow the process on behalf of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM), the country’s parliament, according to AA and İHA.
Meetings with CHP and Yeni Yol
Kurtulmuş first met Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu and then visited the parliamentary group of the Yeni Yol party, where he was received by group deputy chairs Bülent Kaya and Selçuk Özdağ, with Ankara MP Sadullah Ergin also present, AA and İHA reported. ANKA had reported in the morning that the speaker would visit the CHP group at 14:00 and the Yeni Yol group at 15:00.
Speaking at the Yeni Yol meeting, Kurtulmuş said the commission would be set up in parliament as soon as possible, according to İHA. He said the talks with parties would be completed next week and that the size and structure of the commission would be decided after that, AA and İHA reported.
Legal basis
The commission is based on the law on strengthening national solidarity and social integration, which parliament passed on 10 August with 467 votes, AA and İHA reported. Under the law, parliament is to follow the process through this commission, and Kurtulmuş said it would also make recommendations, according to İHA.
Kurtulmuş described the adoption of the law as a victory for democracy, AA reported. He also said the process needed no outside "third eye", as the nation itself, through parliament, was its monitor, according to AA and İHA.
The speaker drew a line between the commission and the government’s own work. He said the executive side of the process rests with a separate board chaired by a vice president, which has already started work, AA and İHA reported.
What happens next
Kurtulmuş said ideas would mature over the coming days, and that he would make a fuller statement once the consultations are finished, İHA reported. No membership numbers or meeting dates for the commission have been announced.
For other business in parliament this autumn, see our report on the week’s agenda in the TBMM.
Sources
- TBMM Başkanı Kurtulmuş, Yeni Yol Grubu’nda TBMM’de kurulacak izleme komisyonuna ilişkin görüşme yaptı (Haberler.com / AA)
- TBMM Başkanı Kurtulmuş, izleme komisyonu için CHP ve Yeni Yol ile görüştü (Haberler.com / İHA)
- TBMM Başkanı Kurtulmuş’tan siyasi partilere ‘izleme komisyonu’ ziyaretleri (Cumhuriyet / ANKA)
Photo: Clemens Holzmeister (1893-1983) Makril / CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
