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Interior Minister Mustafa Çiftçi said the process aimed at a terror-free Turkey and a terror-free region will succeed, adding that no outside support was being sought for the effort. Çiftçi spoke at a panel in Batman organized by the Birlik Vakfı under the title "Terror-free Turkey in the Century of Turkey, Brotherhood Law and Social Peace."

The minister said the program included meetings with the governors, police chiefs and gendarmerie commanders of 11 provinces, and pointed to the backing of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli, Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş and 467 lawmakers for the process.

Panel in Batman

Continuing a series of contacts in the city, Çiftçi attended the panel on "Terror-free Turkey in the Century of Turkey, Brotherhood Law and Social Peace" hosted by Birlik Vakfı. In remarks to the audience, Çiftçi said it was pleasing to be in Batman and noted that the program had brought together the governors, police chiefs and gendarmerie commanders of 11 provinces.

Batman Governor Ekrem Canalp, AK Party Batman MP Ferhat Nasıroğlu and Hamdullah Tüzün, head of Birlik Vakfı's Batman branch, also addressed the gathering.

A law backed by 467 lawmakers

Çiftçi recalled the call President Erdoğan made in Malazgirt in 2024, saying Kurdish, Turkish and Arab citizens had grown apart and that the call was therefore very important. The Grand National Assembly had taken ownership of the matter, Çiftçi said, and a terror-free Turkey had become state policy.

Devlet Bahçeli then gave strong support, setting aside earlier statements and putting not only a hand but the whole body behind Turkey's future, Çiftçi said. The president had shown strong political will from the start, and Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş personally chaired 21 meetings on the terror-free Turkey effort at parliament. The decisions taken there were later turned into a legal basis and produced a strong law backed by 467 MPs.

Çiftçi said that majority showed lawmakers and political will in Turkey can come together on certain issues and that other things could be achieved the same way. That same will might make a civilian constitution possible, the minister added, expressing hope for one. Çiftçi thanked Erdoğan, Bahçeli, Kurtulmuş and the lawmakers, and said the law had emerged from strong resolve without any bargaining.

Conditions described as favorable

Citizens should have no concerns, Çiftçi said, arguing that the domestic and international conditions for the process to succeed are extremely favorable and that the state is living through its strongest period in the last 200 years. The minister said visits abroad, meetings and official contacts had shown that Turkey has become a regional power with global influence, crediting the president with weaving the process over 25 years.

"Hopefully a terror-free Turkey, a terror-free region, this process will succeed. I have not the slightest concern or doubt about it," Çiftçi said, adding that the will of parliament had revived a brotherhood that had faded. The process would reach a result in a short time because Turkey took it on through its own resolve and the strength of the nation, without support from any other country, Çiftçi said. The minister cited the United Kingdom, Spain, the Philippines and Cambodia as countries that went through similar processes with outside backing, and said Turkey would re-strengthen its unity, brotherhood and domestic front.

Tourism and regional events on the rise

Çiftçi said 100,000 more domestic and foreign tourists had come to Diyarbakır this year compared with the same period last year, and that the figure was expected to grow next year. Similar developments are expected in Batman and Hakkari, the minister said, so the region and Turkey will benefit.

The minister pointed to developments in Şırnak this year, including the parliament speaker's participation in events and festivals on Cudi Mountain, as well as the wrestling festival on Cilo Mountain in Hakkari. "These will spread. Better examples will emerge," Çiftçi said, adding that the days ahead would be better and more auspicious than the days behind.

Governor and MPs speak of social peace

Governor Ekrem Canalp said a new position had been taken thanks to the foresight of Erdoğan, Bahçeli and Kurtulmuş and the support of citizens. The conditions facing the world today resemble those after the First World War, Canalp said, warning that global balances are being shaken and a turbulent era lies ahead with winners and losers. Strengthening the domestic front is meant to address exactly that, Canalp said, arguing that Turkey cannot afford to lose because it places its homeland and the future of its children on the table. The governor said Turkey's renewed strength and self-confidence a century after the republic was founded can be seen clearly.

AK Party MP Ferhat Nasıroğlu said the discussion concerned the culture of living together, brotherhood and social peace, calling them the memory of the land, mothers' prayers, the legacy fathers left and a responsibility to children. Without forgetting past suffering, a new page must be opened so the same pain is not passed on to the next generation, Nasıroğlu said, voicing the wish that no mother lose a child, no young person fall victim to violence and no child grow up in fear, with youth energy directed to science, technology, production and development. Nasıroğlu said the state's security and citizens' basic rights and freedoms should not be treated as alternatives, and that the coming period should be handled together with democratization, law, social integration and economic development.

A call from the host foundation

Hamdullah Tüzün said the people share the same soil, the same flag, faith, brotherhood and hopes, and that no force has ever erased the nation's will for unity. The country has suffered greatly from terrorism, Tüzün said, with many homes hit by grief and many mothers and children left longing. "We want a Turkey where mothers do not weep, children grow up with hope, the sound of children's laughter rises instead of gunfire and brotherhood prevails instead of division," Tüzün said.

Tüzün voiced confidence that the president's foresight, the prayers of the nation, the resolve of the state and God's permission would carry the goal within reach, and said the Century of Turkey should be a century of peace, justice and brothership as well as development. The young people of Batman will study, produce and pursue their dreams, Tüzün said, adding that the peace of Batman is the peace of the region and the peace of the region is the strength of Turkey.

Key takeaways

• Interior Minister Mustafa Çiftçi said the terror-free Turkey process will succeed and that he has no doubt about it
• The process rests on backing from President Erdoğan, MHP leader Bahçeli, Parliament Speaker Kurtulmuş and 467 lawmakers, Çiftçi said
• Turkey is carrying out the effort with its own resolve and without support from any other country, the minister said
• Diyarbakır drew 100,000 more visitors this year than in the same period last year, with similar gains expected in Batman and Hakkari