İbrahim Kalın, head of the National Intelligence Organization (MİT), is visiting political parties represented in parliament ahead of the formation of a parliamentary committee as part of efforts to resolve the Kurdish question.
Kalın today paid his first visit to Devlet Bahçeli, the government's key ally and leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP).
Afterward, he visited President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's justice and Development Party (AKP) to meet Abdullah Güler, the party's parliamentary group chair.
Kalın's visits will continue with the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), pro-Kurdish Peoples' Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party, Good (İYİ) Party, and the New Path (Yeni Yol) Party.
DEM official outlines expectations for legislative steps after PKK lays down arms
A special parliamentary committee is expected to be formed in the coming days to work on the legal steps to be taken as part of the process.
Kalın reportedly organized the visits to inform leaders of the goals of the committee's objectives and the next phase of the disarmament process.
The developments come in the wake of the Kurdistan Workers' Party's (PKK) announcement of its dissolution on May 12, followed by a disarmament ceremony held in Iraq's Kurdistan Region on Jul 11.
The broader process began in October after MHP's Bahçeli suggested Öcalan be granted the "right to hope," which could potentially lead to his release after nearly 30 years in prison, in exchange for the dissolution of the PKK.
OBSERVATIONS FROM SULAYMANIYAH
Notes from the historic day: mountain, fire, hope!
(LÖ/VK)
