Minister Çiftçi: No bargaining with terror group in Terror-Free Türkiye process

Interior Minister Mustafa Çiftçi said there had been no bargaining with the terrorist organization and no concessions in the Terror-Free Türkiye process. Speaking at a panel in Batman, he said he believed the process would deliver results soon.

Interior Minister Mustafa Çiftçi spoke at the “Terror-Free Türkiye, the Law of Brotherhood and Social Peace in the Century of Türkiye” panel organized by the Birlik Foundation’s Batman branch at the Necat Nasıroğlu Complex Conference Hall. “Was any bargaining done with the terrorist organization as a result of this law? Absolutely not. Was any concession given? No,” Çiftçi said.

“Whatever the will of our president, our state and our parliament is, that is what was adopted, and that is the line we are following now. Our citizens should have no concerns on this point,” he said. Çiftçi said that before the panel he held a long meeting with the governors, police chiefs and gendarmerie commanders of 11 provinces. “We have to set our road map in the Terror-Free Türkiye process. We are a 700,000-strong Interior Ministry family. We need to speak a common language,” he said.

The “Terror-Free Türkiye, the Law of Brotherhood and Social Peace in the Century of Türkiye” panel in Batman

“The call to fortify the home front was extremely important”

In his speech, Çiftçi recited verse 59 of Surah An-Nisa, citing the passage meaning: “Obey God and obey the Prophet. Do not quarrel with one another and fall apart, or your strength will depart.”

Recalling President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s 2024 call to “fortify the home front,” Çiftçi said: “For many years we fought each other. We lost our strength and became divided. As a result, our word lost its influence. The president’s call to fortify the home front was extremely important in this respect.”

“Bahçeli put his whole body under the stone”

“We saw it within two years. Parliament embraced this process. Terror-Free Türkiye has become a state policy,” Çiftçi said. Of Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli, he said: “Mr. Devlet Bahçeli gave strong support. Setting aside what he said in the past, he put not just his hand but his whole body under the stone for Türkiye’s future,” using a Turkish expression for taking on responsibility. “Our esteemed president has put strong political will into this from the start,” he added.

“Our Parliament speaker personally chaired 21 meetings in parliament on Terror-Free Türkiye. The decisions taken there later became a legal basis in parliament, and a very good, strong law emerged with the support of 467 of our lawmakers,” Çiftçi said. “This shows that in Türkiye, on certain issues, political will can come together. God willing, with this strong will, perhaps we will also be able to make a civilian constitution. I am hopeful about that after seeing this 467 picture.”

“We are living through the strongest period of the last 200 years”

Stressing that conditions favor the success of the process, Çiftçi said: “The domestic and international conjuncture are extremely favorable. We are living through the strongest period of the last 200 years. Türkiye has now become a regional power with global influence. God willing, Terror-Free Türkiye, a terror-free region — this process will succeed. I have not the slightest concern about this.”

Saying the process is being carried out by Türkiye’s own will, Çiftçi added: “We did not receive support from any other country. Countries such as the United Kingdom, Spain, the Philippines and Cambodia went through similar processes, but each of them received support from elsewhere. We are doing this with our own will and the strength of our own nation. God willing, we will get results in a short time.”

“Those days are behind us”

Recounting that as district governor of Tekman in Erzurum in 2001-2002 he could visit villages only with security vehicles, and that in Batman’s Kozluk district in 2008-2009 officials had to use four different routes in a single day, Çiftçi said: “Those days are behind us. Today we are in 2026.”

Turning to the effects on the region, he said: “Last year about 1.2 million domestic and foreign tourists came to Diyarbakır, while this year 1.3 million came in the same period. This will not only be in Diyarbakır; it will be the same in Batman and Hakkari.” Citing events on Mount Cudi in Şırnak and a festival on Mount Cilo in Hakkari, he said: “Our region will win from this, Eastern Anatolia and Southeastern Anatolia will win. We will all win; Türkiye will win.”

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Minister Çiftçi: No bargaining with terror group in Terror-Free Türkiye process