In the months prior to fellow legate Tekeny Ghemor's arrest, Turrel was among those who pushed for a new tactic in dealing with the Maquis problem: circumventing the official Federation colonists' representatives and taking the Cardassian case directly to the people of the ceded DMZ colonies. The idea was to demonstrate greater restraint towards the former Federation citizens and reward peaceful conduct with an influx of provisions and supplies the Maquis could not provide.