Co-chairs of an opposition party that played a key role in the terror-free Türkiye initiative denied reports that they or the PKK terrorist group’s jailed leader negotiated a bargain with the government in exchange for a call to the group to lay down arms.
Tülay Hatimoğulları and Tuncer Bakırhan of the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) answered reporters’ questions on Tuesday on the initiative that took a major stride after PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan called on terrorists to lay down arms and dissolve the organization last month. Lawmakers of the DEM Party, which is known for its close ties with the PKK, played a key role in relaying messages of Öcalan to the government, the PKK and the wider public. Bakırhan was in a delegation who last met Öcalan hours before the latter’s historic call.
The terror-free Türkiye initiative was launched by Devlet Bahçeli, head of government ally Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), last year. Bahçeli had suggested a temporary release for Öcalan so that he would speak at Parliament and make the call. Öcalan shunned appearing at Parliament but instead handed a letter to the DEM Party delegation who read it to the public on Feb. 27.
Although not the first time that Türkiye sought other means than counterterrorism operations to resolve the problem of terrorism that plagued it for decades, the initiative was surprising, given the fact that it was engineered by a staunch nationalist who advocated for further crackdowns on the PKK in the past. The embrace of the initiative, which is endorsed by the government, by Öcalan and the DEM Party gave rise to speculations by the opposition that it was a deal negotiated by the three parties to the matter. Some critics claimed that the government sought to lure the DEM Party for support in Parliament for its plans to amend the Constitution.
The co-chairs said the solution to the issue should be at Parliament and they never resorted to bargains behind closed doors or expected anything in return for (the call to lay down arms). Hatimoğulları said they would seek talks about the initiative with political parties, as the DEM Party delegation did after multiple visits to Öcalan as part of the initiative. She stated that they would also seek a meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, whose Justice and Development Party (AK Party) hosted the DEM Party delegation earlier. She noted that the same delegation would also travel to Syria’s north, where the YPG, the Syrian wing of the PKK, controls swathes of land near the Turkish border. The YPG had signaled that Öcalan’s call was not binding for them. Hatimoğulları acknowledged that Öcalan sent a separate letter to the YPG but she was not aware of the content of the letter.
She stated that Parliament should be the venue for what she called the “solution process” and all parties should be a part of it.
Tuncer Bakırhan, meanwhile, countered accusations by a lawmaker from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) who claimed the initiative was part of a deal for the DEM Party's support to the government.
“It is not politically ethical to accuse a party that inherited the legacy of politicians imprisoned for years and repressed of taking part in the process for (supporting the AK Party). The CHP should be ashamed. We voted for their presidential candidate, not AK Party’s Erdoğan,” Bakırhan said, referring to the 2023 general election.
“If they disliked (the initiative), they should draft their own road map. We never resorted to closed-door negotiations. They claim we had a deal with the AK Party but our colleagues are still behind bars,” he said, referring to PKK-linked politicians imprisoned on terror charges, including senior members of DEM Party’s spiritual predecessor the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP).
