DEM Party's Önder in critical condition after heart attack

ANKARA

DEM Party lawmaker Sırrı Süreyya Önder remains in critical condition after suffering a heart attack on April 15, with hospital officials confirming he was brought in without a pulse and resuscitated before undergoing emergency surgery.

The 62-year-old deputy parliament speaker underwent a 12-hour operation beginning at 11:35 p.m., during which doctors performed bypass and aortic grafting procedures following the discovery of a tear in his aorta.

Due to insufficient contraction of the right side of his heart, Önder has been connected to a cardiac support device and remains in intensive care.

"The doctors said they are facing a difficult case, but just because it is difficult does not mean that it will not be successful. We are waiting with hope," DEM Party spokesperson Ayşegül Doğan told reporters outside the hospital early on April 16.

"We believe that Önder, whose life was spent in struggle and resistance, will overcome this trouble as soon as possible," read the statement issued by the party.

DEM Party co-chairs Tuncer Bakırhan and Tülay Hatimoğulları, along with several lawmakers and party officials, were monitoring the situation closely at the hospital.

Istanbul Governor Davut Gül, who visited the hospital, said Önder was brought in roughly 30 minutes after the initial emergency call.

"From the first moment of the incident, our president [Recep Tayyip Erdoğan], our parliament speaker [Numan Kurtulmuş], our [Nationalist Movement Party] MHP leader [Devlet Bahçeli], our health minister [Kemal Memişoğlu], our interior minister [Ali Yerlikaya] and other state officials were closely involved in the issue," he said.

Politicians across the spectrum shared messages of support on social media following the news.

Born in 1962 in the southeastern city of Adıyaman, Önder was imprisoned for seven years following the 1980 military coup.

He was elected to parliament in 2011 as an independent candidate and later became a leading figure in the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), the predecessor of the DEM Party. He also gained prominence as a filmmaker, writer and columnist.

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

He was arrested in 2018 on charges of “making terrorist propaganda” and released the following year. He is currently part of the delegation involved in renewed dialogue efforts with jailed PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan and Turkish officials.