Turkish Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmus said on Saturday that Türkiye’s “Terror-Free Türkiye” initiative would pave the way for greater unity within the country and across the region, ultimately helping build a “stronger, terror-free region”.

He described the initiative as the first step in a broader regional process.

“We are now leaving behind this process that has lasted for more than 40 years, in which thousands of our people were martyred, tens of thousands were killed, and villages and cities were destroyed,” he said at the closing programme of the Bosphorus Diplomacy Forum in Istanbul.

“Turks, Kurds and people from other ethnic communities in this country will continue their path together in unity,” he said.

Kurtulmus indicated that the language of division, separation and marginalisation should be replaced by “the language of brotherhood and unity”.

He said the approach would extend beyond Türkiye’s borders, bringing Turks, Kurds, Arabs and other communities closer together.

“A strong region, a terror-free region will be built again,” he said.