Those Who Should Go to İmralı!..

For the new resolution process led by Devlet Bahçeli, the AKP-MHP duo has kept saying, "There is no bargaining or give-and-take with the terrorist organization."

Furthermore, the AKP-MHP duo has repeatedly claimed that the call by the terrorist leader in İmralı to "lay down arms and dissolve the organization" covers not only the PKK but also the KCK, PJAK, the SDG/YPG in Syria, and its European structure.

But it turned out that this is not the case at all. How?

The terrorist leader made a so-called "dissolution and laying down arms" call. In return, İmralı turned into a revolving door. He was illegally provided with the means to participate in a PKK meeting via video conference.

PKK members held a show of burning 30 weapons. In return, a "PKK commission" was established in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM) without any legal basis.

Along with this, the PKK-DEM continued to list their conditions; such as the commission addressing the "Kurdish issue," education in the mother tongue, changing the definition of citizenship, and the parliamentary commission going to İmralı.

Setting the PKK-DEM members aside; where do we place these statements made by the terrorist leader, whom the government itself relies on, to the İmralı delegation?

"You are facing the most important move in the history of the Republic. I do not like these types of conversations: 'Let a few of our elderly get out of prison, let this package be like this, let that package be like that.' This will not do. Undoubtedly, it is valuable, I respect it. But we are dealing with big things. Let no one distract us with these types of things... Let no one act as if our demands consist of these, as if we could be deceived by these... 'Let's ask this from the Minister of Justice, let's ask that'; these are cheap affairs... 'This entered the package, that did not,' this business cannot be run with horse-trading. We will not let this business be stifled. Let us not get drowned in small matters... Only freedom laws and democratic integration laws remain. Freedom laws and then the constitution..."

If these are not the epitome of "give-and-take," then what is?!

Drowning and Clutching at a Snake

Let us come to the issue of whether the terrorist leader's call specifically covers the organization in Syria.

Mazlum Kobani, Salih Müslim, and DEM said from the very first day, "No, it does not cover it"... In fact, they issued warnings: "If you interfere in Syria, the process here will be harmed..." And again, the terrorist leader himself announced, just like in 2013, that "Rojava is a red line."

But the AKP-MHP ignored these for a long time. Ultimately, first Erdoğan, and then Bahçeli, rolled up their sleeves to bring the SDG/YPG into line with messages of operations.

Following this, a "surprise" proposal came from MHP Deputy Chairman and commission member Feti Yıldız, in line with the demands of the terrorist leader and DEM.

On September 5, Yıldız declared: "It will not create a weakness for our Speaker of the Parliament, Mr. Numan Kurtulmuş, to select 3-4 people from within the National Solidarity, Brotherhood and Democracy Commission to take the statements of the terrorist organization's founder, Abdullah Öcalan, with the timing and method carefully considered."

Meanwhile, we learned about the latest point Bahçeli has reached from Nedim Şener. In the meeting that took place on the day Feti Yıldız made that "surprise" statement, but which Şener published the day before, Bahçeli praised the terrorist leader as follows:

"The founder of the PKK is the sole holder of initiative and, with his call, ensured the organization's decision to dissolve and played a role in the laying down of arms. Therefore, I believe he will contribute with his views in the process ahead. Most importantly, I believe he is sincere in his views, including the February 27 call. He has not said a single word contrary to this so far."

He then said, "There is no bargaining with anyone. Neither was a proposal made to Öcalan and the DEM Party members, nor did they make a demand. No promises were made. We made the commission proposal this way. It was accepted and is performing its duty with this understanding."

Finally, he claimed that the terrorist leader's call "covers all elements and groups of the PKK, and that Öcalan has not taken a step back from this and is still at the same point," but for some reason, he asked the terrorist leader to make another call with these words:

"As the founder of the PKK and the sole holder of initiative who took the dissolution decision and made his organization do it, Öcalan reminding with a new statement that the February 27 call also covers the organization's branch in Syria and its structure in Europe, and the fulfillment of this call, will also end the debate on this matter."

In response to Nedim Şener's question, "What if they don't comply with this either?", he sufficed with recalling Erdoğan's warnings: "If the sword is drawn from its scabbard... Whoever tries to sabotage this process will pay the price... We are very well-trained this time."

Contradictions everywhere!..

SDG is Laying Mines and Arming

While the atmosphere in Ankara is like this, let us report what the Syrian PKK, the SDG, is doing.

Not only on the contact lines with the Damascus administration, but it is also establishing supply lines and laying mines along the Euphrates River and the Syria-Turkey border...

While it is expected to lay down arms, it is piling heavy weapons into positions in the regions it occupies and accelerating tunnel construction activities...

And it is banning the curriculum prepared by Damascus in schools located in the region under its control...

The Stance of Erbakan and Özel

The situation is this, and a delegation from the Parliament is planned to go to the feet of the terrorist leader!..

Kudos to New Welfare Party (Yeniden Refah Partisi) Chairman Fatih Erbakan, who, while stating that they would put withdrawing from the commission on their agenda if such a thing were to happen, said: "If there is anyone who will meet with İmralı, it is the MIT (National Intelligence Organization). The state is already meeting, the MIT is already meeting. DEM Party deputies are already going and coming, they are meeting. If they have something to say, let them say it through these channels. We do not look favorably upon deputies elected by the will of the nation in the TBMM going to the feet of İmralı."

Exactly so. Does the MIT not meet and not know what the terrorist leader is saying?! Likewise, did MIT President İbrahim Kalın not explain these in the closed meeting of the commission, such that a step is being taken that will mean a "new position" for İmralı-PKK-DEM and a "new concession" on behalf of the government?

Let us also look at the attitude of CHP Chairman Özgür Özel, who persistently ignores that a second Treaty of Sèvres is being placed before Turkey.

At the end of July, he had said exactly this:

"The CHP will not send a delegation to İmralı. We have no such intention. This is why we are entering the commission. We think the only place where these matters can be discussed is the Parliament. What business do we have sending a delegation to the island? The Parliament is the highest authority... The legitimate ground for discussion is the Parliament. It is the Parliament founded by Atatürk. They ask me, 'Did a letter come to you? Did you write a letter? Will you go? Will you come?' The answer to all of them is: the letter I will read, the visit I will make, and the decision I will take is the democratic parliamentary ground. I will not leave that ground empty. I authorize my commission in the Parliament. Whatever is to be done, they will do it, they will come, and they will inform our party."

Yesterday, however, while he should have pushed aside the İmralı proposal of DEM and MHP with the back of his hand, he told Cumhuriyet the following:

"The commission will sit and discuss this. The decision-making mechanisms are clear. As the CHP, if the subject exceeds the decision-making limits of the commission member friends regarding the commission's concrete agenda proposals, they need to bring it to us. Nothing like that has come to us yet. Who will go on behalf of the commission, what will happen, for what purpose will they go; we do not know these. But until now, they also asked me, 'Will you go to İmralı?' We have no such thing on our agenda. When this comes to the commission's agenda, when the friends bring what is coming and for what purpose, we will sit, talk, discuss, and see."

Then, on one hand, he talked about the solution to the "Kurdish issue," and on the other, he repeated the promise, "We will not do anything that would make us unable to look into the faces of the families of martyrs."

He should not take offense, but giving permission for a delegation of deputies to be sent to the feet of the terrorist leader is more than enough to be unable to look into the faces of the families of martyrs!..

After This Hour, Only a Statement Can Be Taken

It is such a surreal situation; the number of people who will form the commission that will go to İmralı is being discussed, and who its chairman will be is being wondered!..

Let us underline these:

In the previous resolution process, the Undersecretary of Public Order had said to the terrorist leader, "You are managing the organization from here. We are allowing this. We are also providing the means for delegations to come and go." Now, the terrorist leader continues to give instructions to the organization by saying, "Rojava is my red line"!..

In response to this, MHP's Feti Yıldız talks about the delegation of deputies who will go "taking the statement" of the murderer of 40 thousand people!..

Whereas; the only delegation that should go to İmralı is a delegation of prosecutors... And the work to be done is not to take the "statement" of the terrorist leader, but to take his "testimony" for founding and managing the terrorist organization in Syria and to prepare an indictment against him!..

Müyesser YILDIZ

September 10, 2025