Turkey: Party to abstain on 'framework law' citing concerns over terrorist amnesty

Turkey's Yeniden Refah Party (YRP) announced it will vote "abstain" on the proposed "framework law," a move its leader Fatih Erbakan described as a principled stance. Erbakan stated on social media that the legislation, presented to parliament, is not related to Kurdish citizens. Instead, he asserted, its provisions concerning the penal system are designed to facilitate the release, or "covered amnesty," of PKK/KCK terrorists.

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The law proposal, announced as the first step of the so-called 'process' about which we unfortunately have no information about its details, has been submitted to the Grand National Assembly of Turkey.

Erbakan argued that the proposed law offers no improvements in freedom, human rights, or equality for Kurdish citizens. He dismissed claims that the bill would foster Turkish-Kurdish brotherhood, calling such notions "completely baseless." According to the YRP leader, the provisions aim to grant a blanket amnesty to PKK/KCK members, including those serving life sentences, without any requirement for remorse.

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The first word to be said about the law proposal that passed the commission is that this proposal has nothing to do with our millions of Kurdish brothers.

Despite opposing the amnesty aspect, the YRP will not vote against the bill due to other provisions that mandate the termination of PKK/KCK's existence and the destruction of their weaponry under Turkish authority. However, Erbakan views supporting the bill, which includes a potential amnesty and restoration of political rights for terrorists within two to three years, as a "sin." The party insists that the decision regarding the fate of PKK/KCK terrorists should be made by the nation through a referendum, not by government officials or coalition partners.

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The provisions in the proposal, which regulate the execution system specifically for an organization, do not bring any improvement in terms of freedom, human rights, and equality to our Kurdish brothers, but only include the release (implicitly pardoning) of PKK/KCK member terrorists.