Interior Minister Mustafa Çiftçi said during his engagements in Diyarbakır that they would strongly support the “Terror-Free Türkiye” process. Çiftçi and Youth and Sports Minister Osman Aşkın Bak made various visits in the city and prepared to attend the Trendyol Süper Lig match between Amed Sportif Faaliyetler and Erzurumspor FK.
Çiftçi visited the Diyarbakır Governor’s Office, signed the Book of Honor and met with Governor Murat Zorluoğlu. Çiftçi then went with Bak to the Diyarbakır Provincial Directorate of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party), where he met with party members.
Çiftçi speaks about the process
Çiftçi said the Legislative Proposal on Strengthening National Solidarity and Social Integration, prepared as part of the “Terror-Free Türkiye” process, had been approved by the General Assembly of the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye and enacted into law.
Çiftçi said the Interior Ministry had summarized the process in four words—“dismantling, verification, supervision and normalization”—and stated that a new stage had begun. He said the process was being closely monitored and that every effort would be made to prevent it from being disrupted.
Çiftçi said one of the reasons for their presence in Diyarbakır was to attend the football match, and wished for the game to contribute to unity, solidarity and brotherhood. He said he believed that the match beginning and continuing positively in the city would contribute to the “Terror-Free Türkiye” process.
Çiftçi said the process was not an effort that should be managed solely by politicians, adding that sports clubs, civil society organizations, universities and citizens also had responsibilities. Saying that Türkiye had entered a historic turning point, Çiftçi said, “We will break free from 50 years of shackles.”
Statement on the operation
Çiftçi said the Interior and Justice ministries had carried out an operation as part of the investigation into the “Alihan Kuriş profit-driven criminal organization.” He argued that the operation targeted the organization’s senior leadership, not broad sections of society, religious people, conservatives or religious communities.
Çiftçi alleged that Alihan Kuriş had taken over the leadership of the structure in 2016 and that significant movements of money and assets had been observed recently. He also claimed that the senior leadership used an application called “Glooper” and that a headquarters worth 70 million euros had been built in Cologne, Germany.
Sports investments in Diyarbakır
Youth and Sports Minister Bak said the unifying and healing power of sports had an important impact on the process. Bak announced that discussions were under way to build swimming pools, sports halls, artificial-turf pitches and youth centers in Diyarbakır’s districts.
Bak said 12 million people in Türkiye had been taught to swim under the “Let No One Remain Unable to Swim” project. He said more than 700 semi-Olympic and Olympic swimming pools had been built during AK Party governments, construction was continuing on 150 pools, and the total number would reach approximately 1,000.
Bak announced that a 3,500-capacity student dormitory would be built in Diyarbakır, saying the project had been completed and construction would begin. He said the dormitory was intended to meet university students’ accommodation needs.
Bak also said they were celebrating the AK Party’s 25th anniversary and that the party would continue its service efforts. Before the match between Amed Sportif Faaliyetler and Erzurumspor FK, he called for peace, friendship and a good game in the stands.
Condolence and party visits
Çiftçi, Bak and Governor Zorluoğlu visited the relatives of seven people who died after a minibus overturned down an embankment in Diyarbakır’s Lice district at a condolence house in the Kayapınar district and offered their condolences to the family.
The ministers later went to the Diyarbakır Provincial Directorate of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), where they met with Provincial Chairman Miktat Arslan and party members. Former Youth and Sports Minister Mehmet Muharrem Kasapoğlu, AK Party Diyarbakır lawmakers Mehmet Galip Ensarioğlu, Mehmet Sait Yaz and Suna Kepolu Ataman, and AK Party Provincial Chairman Hamit Sümer also attended the visits.
