Türkiye's Deputy Parliament Speaker Sırrı Süreyya Önder passed away weeks after suffering a heart attack, his doctors said Saturday.
“On the 18th day of his treatment and monitoring in our intensive care unit, Mr. Sırrı Süreyya Önder passed away at 4:10 p.m. on May 3, 2025, due to multiple organ failure,” a statement from the hospital he was being treated at said.
Önder, a key figure in the “terror-free Türkiye” initiative launched last year, was 62. He had been hospitalized on April 15 following a respiratory and cardiac arrest.
The veteran politician underwent at least two surgeries but his condition deteriorated rapidly, with worsening neurological symptoms and progression to multiple organ failure, his doctors said, sending their condolences to his family and loved ones.
Condolences poured in from politicians for Önder, who also enjoyed celebrity status as a filmmaker, TV personality and columnist before fully embarking upon a political career.
A lawmaker for the People’s Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), he was part of a delegation involved in the "terror-free Türkiye" initiative.
Devlet Bahçeli, another veteran Turkish politician who launched the process last year, was among the first to send his condolences for Önder.
“I am deeply saddened by Mr. Önder’s death and I believe that the manifestation of the terror-free Türkiye initiative will be a spiritual gift to the late Önder, as well as an eternal service to our national unity,” Bahçeli said in a statement.
“I learned with deep sorrow the passing of my brother, deputy speaker and DEM Party Istanbul Representative Sırrı Süreyya Önder,” Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş said in on X. “He was a valuable person who earned everyone’s respect with his political kindness, stance and modest personality,”
The DEM Party, associated with the PKK terrorist group, worked as a part of the terror-free initiative and as a messenger of the leader of the terrorist group, Abdullah Öcalan, to call the terrorist group to dissolve itself.
Prior to his hospitalization, Önder and fellow lawmaker Pervin Buldan held several meetings with both Öcalan and Turkish officials to streamline the process.
Önder has been hailed for his “significant contributions” to the initiative.
