Önder honored in parliament ceremony after death

ANKARA

Late lawmaker Sırrı Süreyya Önder was commemorated on May 7 with an official ceremony in parliament days after his death from heart-related complications.

The ceremony drew high-level participation from across the political spectrum. The main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) was the first to offer condolences to the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) delegation.

Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş followed with a speech paying tribute to Önder’s legacy.

“He was someone who loved this country from east to west, every inch of it. He was a friend of ours who displayed his patriotic style on every occasion in every period of his life,” Kurtulmuş said.

"Recently, he became one of the most fundamental actors of an important process for peace. We must support his ideal of a terror-free Türkiye."

DEM Party co-chair Tülay Hatimoğulları said Önder had committed himself to fostering coexistence in Türkiye.

“He believed wholeheartedly that all different peoples and beliefs living in Türkiye can live together,” she said. “He believed in this so much that he pushed his illness to the background.”

Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli, returning to parliament 99 days after a period of illness, also visited the DEM Party delegation and extended his condolences to Önder’s brother, Ali Fuat Önder.

Önder had been hospitalized shortly after attending a landmark meeting at the presidential complex on April 10, where he and fellow DEM Party lawmaker Pervin Buldan met with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

It was the first such contact between Erdoğan and pro-Kurdish party representatives in nearly 12 years.

The meeting was part of a peace process involving renewed dialogue with jailed PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan. Bahçeli had previously made a public appeal in parliament for Öcalan to renounce terrorism — a call Erdoğan later endorsed as a “historic window of opportunity.”

PKK is listed as a terror group by Türkiye, the United States and the European Union.

In the months that followed, DEM Party officials visited Öcalan four times at the İmralı prison island off Istanbul.

In a televised address on Feb. 27, Önder and other DEM Party officials shared Öcalan’s call for PKK to disarm and dissolve.

The process appeared to stall as Önder suffered cardiac arrest and died following 18 days in intensive care. The hospital said he succumbed to multiple organ failure.

Önder previously played a pivotal role in the 2013–2015 peace talks between the Turkish government and PKK.