On the question of the Moro Muslims, the South Asian country, which has been continuing for more than half a century in the Philippines and causing the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people, it has come to an end.
With the armistice in the Philippines and the ceasefire and peace treaty following the conflicts leading up to ethnic cleansing, the Moro Muslims will have autonomous governments in Bangsamoro for the first time since 1946.
In 10 questions, the process of providing comprehensive autonomy for Moro Muslims was developed as follows:
1. Who is Moro Muslims?
The Mindanao, Palawan and Sulu archipelago of the Philippines and the Muslim communities living on the other southern islands are called Moro.
Moros, which accounts for about 11 percent of the population of the Philippines, adopted Islam in the 14th century. The most populated areas of Moroons with populations over 10 million are Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Sulu, Tawi Tawi and Basilan.
2. Where does the Moro name come from?
The word Moro comes from the word "Moor" (Moroccan), while "Moor" comes from the Latin word "Mauru", which is used in northeast Africa for the inhabitants of the ancient Roman province of Mauritania. Today this region is home to Algeria, Mauritania and Morocco.
3. How did Islam spread in the Philippines?
Islam came to this region through trade routes from the Arabian Peninsula. It spread in the southern Philippines through Muslims marrying the indigenous people. When Islam came to the middle of the 15th century, the Islamic education in the region gradually became institutionalized, while the coastal regions spread throughout the mountainous and inner regions.
4. What is the Moro problem?
Morrows, which lived in their own independent states until the 20th century, lost their independence in 1946 when the US colonial administration left it to the Christian Philippine government. The people of Moro began to use political negotiations to regain their independence.
5. How did the armed struggle begin?
The transformation of the attacks targeting the Muslim population in the region to ethnic cleansing led Moro to establish a Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in the 1970s in order to protect themselves and to take the decision of armed struggle. More than 120 people lost their lives in Mindonao, where 5 million Muslims lived in conflicts over the past 40 years between the Philippine state and Moroccan Muslims, and 2 million have fallen to the status of refugees.
6. How was the ceasefire announced?
The ceasefire talks between the parties started in 1997. In 2012, a ceasefire was declared between the government and MILF, with the start of peace negotiations. The MILF abandoned its goal of establishing an independent state in Mindanao at talks held in Malaysia's mediation. With MILF, which has 12 thousand armed members, a consensus has been reached in Mindanao to create a new autonomous region called Bangsamoro up to 2016.
7. How has peace negotiations gained momentum?
Peace talks accelerated with the election of the presidential election in the Philippines in 2016, won by Rodrigo Duterte, the mayor of Davao, 22 years. He repeated his promises of ending the atmosphere of peace and conflict in the election campaigns after he was selected.
MILF presented the new Bangsamoro Basic Law Draft to President Duterte, which they had prepared in 2017 with the government as part of a peace agreement.
In the Philippines, the Congress approved the Bangsamoro Basic Law, which envisaged recognition of island autonomy in the province of Mindanao, where the Muslim population lived in May.
8. How will the law be implemented?
The law passed by the Senate and Representative Assembly and signed by Duterte will give the island a comprehensive autonomy around the Mindanao province where the Muslim population lives intensely.
A referendum will be held in regions interested in the autonomous region within 150 days of the adoption of the legislation at the latest.
A parliament of 80 people, majority of whom will be formed from the Liberation front of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, will choose its prime minister from within.
9. What will MILF be?
When Moroccans receive the local government, 30 percent of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) will drop their weapons and return to civilian life. The elected government will run the regional administration until 2022 and the armed group will have completely abandoned its weapons.
The MILF will also turn into a civilian structure and continue its activity as a political party. The final step in the process will be a meeting with the heads of the two sides negotiating, the speaker of the parliament and the Moro Peace Process Monitoring Mission, with a "process complete" decision.
10. What will Moros get through the deal?
The Bangsamoro Organic Law will increase the legal and economic gains of Muslims in the region. Sharia courts will be opened to establish the Bangsamoro government and independent sharia provisions on religious freedoms in the region. The administrative powers in the region will be transferred to the government of Bangsamoro without remaining in the national sovereignty. In addition, the former Moro National Liberation Front (MILF) will be able to join the law enforcement agencies.