Sırrı Süreyya Önder shared his memory with Bahçeli: "We will dance the halay in a state of peace."

03.03.2025 21:40

The HDP Party Member of Parliament and member of the Imralı delegation, Sırrı Süreyya Önder, shared a phone memory with MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli, whom he described as "one of the most elegant people I have seen in this political life in terms of one-on-one human relations." Önder recounted, "I said, 'Let's see peace, and then may God take His trust.' Bahçeli replied, 'Is that possible, sir? We will still have to work for peace; don't underestimate yourselves.'"

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DEM Party Member of Parliament and Imralı delegation member Sırrı Süreyya Önder appeared on live broadcast days after PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan's call to lay down arms. In a broadcast on Habertürk, Önder recounted his memory with MHP Chairman Devlet Bahçeli.

ÖNDER: DEVLET BEY IS ONE OF THE MOST GRACEFUL PEOPLE I'VE SEEN IN ONE-ON-ONE HUMAN RELATIONS

Önder said: Devlet Bey is one of the most graceful people I have seen in one-on-one human relations in this political life. In fact, people witnessed this as well. However, human memory is prone to forgetfulness. When Mr. Ahmet Türk was taken to prison, he openly stated; that was around 2016-17. He gathered journalists there and said that Mr. Ahmet should be tried without detention. Indeed, he stood behind this claim.

When Bahçeli made his statement, we had facilitated the peace of the Şenyaşar family together with Mr. Cevdet Yılmaz, Mr. Ahmet Türk, myself, Mr. Bekir Bozdağ, and Mr. Abdülhamit Gül. A meal was to be held for this. We were in a meeting at the Parliament regarding its format, place, and time. Suddenly, the atmosphere changed. The bodyguards brought a phone to Cevdet Bey. They started calling Bekir Bey. They said, 'Sir, Mr. Bahçeli has made a speech.' The minutes came, we read them; it was a shocking speech. We read it several times, and I watched the video. After that, the meeting was disrupted. Ahmet Türk and I went to my room. We said, 'We can meet another time; something significant has just happened.'

"BAHÇELİ SAID 'WE WILL DANCE THE PEACE HALAY LATER'"

We sat in my room, and for the first time, my assistant called and said, 'They are calling from Mr. Bahçeli's office; they want to meet.' I said, 'Please connect me.' I took the call on the intercom, and Ahmet Abi was listening too. He asked about my health, and I asked about his health. I said, 'Let’s see peace, then may God take His trust.' He said, 'Is that so, sir? We will dance the peace halay later; don’t take it to heart.' I said, 'You have driven the nail into the wall; we are not yet capable of evaluating it.' Ahmet Abi chatted with him. We hung up mutually. Later, we visited him.

THE PROCESS STARTED WITH BAHÇELİ'S CALL

With the call of MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli, the DEM Party held a meeting with PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan in Imralı Prison on December 28, 2024. The party stated that the meeting took place in a sincere atmosphere and that the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TBMM) is the most suitable ground for solving the issue within the framework of democratic politics.

Following this meeting, contacts began with TBMM President Numan Kurtulmuş on January 3, and continued with the leaders and representatives of MHP, Future Party, AK Party, Felicity Party, CHP, DEVA Party, and New Welfare Party. After these meetings, the DEM Party delegation met with PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan in Imralı on December 28, 2024. The delegation expressed that the meetings were promising. The second meeting between the Imralı Delegation and PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan took place on January 22.