Turkey's opposition leader criticizes rushed 'framework law' process

Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Özgür Özel has criticized the government's proposed "framework law" aimed at strengthening national solidarity and social cohesion. Özel stated that the bill was drafted without any collaborative effort, with the ruling AK Party collecting signatures on blank papers from its own members before submitting it to other parties in sealed envelopes.

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This law proposal was not prepared through joint work. The AK Party collected signatures on blank papers from its own group. They sent it to the party groups in sealed envelopes this afternoon.

Speaking to Yetkinreport, Özel explained that his party's parliamentary commission members received the text only as they were about to begin a meeting. Within half an hour, the bill was submitted to the Parliament Speaker's office. "Our political approach has not changed, but in terms of procedure and style, it is an extremely wrong move," Özel said. He argued that while parliamentary commissions are the appropriate venue for discussing and amending legislation, the government's secretive and hasty approach undermined the spirit of the process.

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Our political approach has not changed, but in terms of procedure and style, it is an extremely wrong move.

Özel highlighted that the proposed law only addresses the sixth part of a larger commission report, which deals with criminal law. He stressed that the seventh part, concerning democratization, compliance with Constitutional Court and European Court of Human Rights rulings, ending the practice of appointed trustees, and other democratic openings, needs to be addressed concurrently and with equal urgency. "The sixth article alone is not enough to solve the Kurdish question. Solving the problems of Kurds or Turkey's democracy issue cannot be done with just the sixth part," he stated, adding that the sixth article might be a technical necessity or the end of a process, but the seventh part should mark the beginning of a democratic and peaceful future for all Turks and Kurds.

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The sixth article alone is not enough to solve the Kurdish question. Solving the problems of Kurds or Turkey's democracy issue cannot be done with just the sixth part.