Turkish Parliament expected to pass draft law to end terror

The Turkish Parliament's internal affairs commission approved on Friday the bill to accelerate the Erdogan-led government's initiative to end the country's terror problem. If passed in the Parliament, a new phase will be launched in the ongoing settlement process.

In the first step, two special secretariats will be set up in Turkey in the Kurdish enclave in the north of Iraq. The Ankara-based special secretariat will work in conjunction to the Interior Ministry's public safety undersecretary.

The bill will rekindle technical and legal infrastructure to ensure the return home of those who lay down their arms. Should the infrastructure efforts be completed until the end of 2014, the homecoming process is expected to begin in the first quarter of 2015.

Another special secretariat will be opened in Arbil province where the Kurdish Parliamentary and other ministry offices are based. The Arbil-based secretariat will work more intensively in order to accelarate the peace process. It will hold indirect talks between Ankara and the PKK leaders in the Quandil region. The talks will only aim to pave the way for the return of PKK-linked militants from the mountains.

Depending on the coordination between the two secretariats, a liaison office will open at the Habur crossing in order to record the militants' return home and carry out field work.

When the seond phase of the ongoing peace process becomes concrete, the return home will be first ensured for ex-PKK militants, currently living in the provinces of Arbil, Dohuk and Suleymaniya. 1711 out of 3971 ex-militants, who have not had any criminal record or not faced any warrant of arrest, will be the first to return through Habur crossing.

The first arrivals are expected to set ground for the second group's return until June in 2015. When the sreturning process is completed for the second group, made up of 2,209 ex-militants, the remaining 51 will wait for a while until a certain date is set for their return, because red notices have been isssued for their arrest due to their criminal activities. These 51 people, who have criminal records, and 127 militants, still based in Qandil, will continue to live in Arbil until their return.

In the next steps, the PKK militants, who have been living in the UN refugee camp near Mahmur, nearly 100 km from Arbil, will be allowed to return home. Considering the course of the peace process, 2,145 people in the UN refugee camp will first move into the new camps, which will be set up near the towns of Mahmur and Ranya.

Security precautions will be beefed up in the UN camp to prevent any possible assault by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL, as the camp is located within the borders of Mosul province, seized by the al-Qaeda off-shoot on June 11. Depending on the developments in the region, their return is due to be completed until July 2016.

Security precautions will be beefed up in the UN camp to prevent any assault by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL, as the camp is located within the borders of Mosul province, which was seized by the al-Qaeda off-shoot on June 11.

Finally, the PKK militants based in the Qandil mountains will have a chance to return home. The estimated 6,155 PKK militants in Qandil will begin returning to home since July in 2015 after the return home from the UN camp and Kurdish province are substantially completed.

Meanwhile, the PKK leadership in Qandil is expected not to allow the return of the second and the third groups, because it has supposedly planned to settle these groups in Syria's Kurdish enclave, Rojava, controlled by Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party, or PYD.

Ankara to contact PKK's European wing

After Ankara completes the legal regulations, negotiations will be held with the leaders linked to the PKK's European wing, to discuss the details of the peace initiative launched by the government to end a three-decade-long armed conflict through peaceful means. The talks will cover conditions required to set up the return of the PKK militants, affiliated with the armed group's European wing.

The first official contact to be held in Brussels in the upcoming October is widely expected to arrange the first return for 795 PKK members, who want to leave the country, where they presently live now, starting this upcoming December. The talks also aim to remove obstacles of their entry to Turkey for any reason if they decide to stay in the country where they live now.

Six-article offer to end long-standing armed conflict

The six-article "Draft Law to End Terrorism and Strengthen Social Integration" is expected to be endorsed before July 25 when the parliament is due to enter summer recess. The terror bill comprises the following measures:

- The government is to determine the necessary political, judicial, socio-economic and cultural steps to be taken to end the terror problem and strengthen social cohesion.

- If necessary, it will have the authority to assign any individual, group or institution both from Turkey and abroad to hold contact, dialogue and talks with any individual, group or institution.

- It will take the necessary measures to ensure that those who lay down their arms will return home and participate in social life.

- It will provide the public with the accurate information about the measures taken as part of the settlement process.

- It will follow the outcome of the measures taken and maintain coordination with relevant groups and institutions.

- Necessary works will be dealt with in terms of introducing new legislations regarding the process

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