The pardon of the terrorist leader or a 'Divine Comedy'!...

Everything began with MHP Leader Devlet Bahçeli’s call on October 22, 2024: “If the isolation of the terrorist leader is lifted, let him come and speak at the TBMM DEM Party group meeting. Let him shout that terrorism has completely ended and the organization has been disbanded. If he shows this resolve and determination, the path for a legal regulation regarding the use of the ‘right to hope’ and his benefiting from it should be opened wide. Let the address extend not from Qandil or Edirne, but from Imralı to DEM, and let this heavy and historical terror problem be completely removed from the country's agenda.”

Did the terrorist leader make a statement in the direction Bahçeli wanted? He did, but with the condition: “In practice, the laying down of arms and the self-dissolution of the PKK require the recognition of democratic politics and the legal dimension!”

Did the PKK/SDF/YPG lay down their arms, and did the KCK disband itself?

Yes, 30 Kalashnikovs were burned in a cauldron... It was announced that the terrorists had withdrawn from Turkey to the “media defense areas”... Mazlum Kobani, the head of the SDF—whom Bahçeli mocked with Özgür Özel by saying, “You can wear the YPG’s tie, you can join hands with Mazlum Abdi, you can travel from mountain to stone and produce mischief/discord”—is appointing deputy ministers and governors... The KCK, meanwhile, is lecturing every day and setting new conditions.

But according to Bahçeli’s latest speech on Tuesday, having promoted the person in Imralı from “terrorist leader” to “founding leader” over the past 16 months, the “founding leader” has stood behind all his promises, ensured the disbandment of the terrorist organization and the burning of weapons, and his call on February 27 has become binding for the PKK and all components of the organization!..

In short, since the “goal has been achieved”; he not only asked the “DEM Party and all organization extensions to show respect for the PKK leadership,” but also addressed his “dear fellow travelers” as follows:

“Our decision is clear until Anatolia returns to peace, Öcalan to hope, the Ahmets to their posts, and Demirtaş to his home.”

With this opening by Bahçeli, while the drums of war are beating in our region, the “right to hope” for the terrorist leader has once again become our main agenda.

A “Notification” to the AKP

While it is rumored that the AKP does not look favorably upon the “right to hope” or Bahçeli’s demands regarding Selahattin Demirtaş, Ahmet Türk, and Ahmet Özer; when Bahçeli responded to a question from journalist Murat Yetkin on this matter by saying, “We have stated our own view. We think these will be beneficial. What happens next is the government’s business,” his legal advisor Feti Yıldız, who also visited the terrorist leader, pointed to ECHR rulings for Demirtaş’s release before the PKK commission meeting the other day, while claiming, “There is no disagreement within the People’s Alliance regarding the right to hope.”

Whether the PKK is threatening to resume terror attacks in the spring is unknown; but it was noteworthy that Feti Yıldız set a timeline for the framework text the commission will prepare, saying, “It won’t take long. April is a late month,” and while saying, “There is no turning back now,” he made the assessment, “We haven’t had a martyr in the last 6 months, what does this mean?”

Interestingly, the terrorist leader also told the deputies sent to him on November 24 that “he found the past year in the process successful, and that no martyrs were given and no clashes occurred during this period.”

If you meet the demands of the terrorist leader and his organization, of course, no clashes will occur and no martyrs will come. It was that easy all along!..

Let us also note that in that meeting, while the terrorist leader requested that “the legal status of everyone associated with the PKK, from the highest to the lowest, be clarified,” Bahçeli stated that his “principle of hope” proposal should be considered, and noted that “a general amnesty is not appropriate for Turkey,” and that “the ‘principle of hope’ would be a way to avoid a general amnesty.”

A “Fait Accompli” to the CHP

Let us return to Feti Yıldız; after the commission meeting, while CHP Group Deputy Chairman Murat Emir was by his side, he spoke as follows:

“We have reached an agreement on the right to hope. There is no problem. The ECHR rulings already mention the right to hope. In this report, we will recommend complying with ECHR rulings and Constitutional Court rulings. The right to hope is included in that as well. It is difficult to explain details one by one, such as whether this is there or that is there; however, there is no serious disagreement between us.”

First, let us recall what Murat Emir said upon Bahçeli’s first call on October 22. He emphasized the following:

“He is also asking for a legal regulation for the right to hope. He is starting from an extremely wrong point. He is expecting a solution from the person he calls the ‘Imralı monster.’ It is an extremely unfortunate speech... We are not saying that a person who received an aggravated life sentence should speak in Parliament with a special regulation; we want peace. Only the representatives of the nation can discuss this issue. We do not mean that one of the main culprits of so many martyrs and so much blood should speak in Parliament. This stance in favor of peace is correct. But what is not correct is showing Imralı as the address for a solution. The solution to this is not Imralı. Mr. Bahçeli and his politics are a type of politics known for ‘U-turns.’ Why did they make such a turn all of a sudden while calling him the ‘Imralı monster’?”

As for Feti Yıldız’s claim that “we have reached an agreement on the right to hope”; Murat Emir dodged the question with these expressions:

“It is too early to say something concrete, we can say we are close to a result... We are discussing and talking about almost every issue that the public knows and that is on the commission’s agenda, we are in harmony, we are getting closer to each other. When the framework report is written, we will share it with you. Both we will work and the commission will work, but we are approaching a positive result.”

Following the reactions to his words while standing next to Feti Yıldız, CHP’s Emir stated that the commission is addressing all topics discussed in the public eye, including the right to hope, and that no special evaluation was made on any topic in this context, and no consensus was reached, adding, “When we finish our work and the draft report passes through our parties’ authorized bodies, it will be evaluated by the commission. In the meantime, it will be discussed in the public eye. Then it will be voted on in the commission. There will be enough evaluation and discussion process then. But right now, there is no agreement, no report, not even a draft.”

As for the CHP’s “view on the right to hope discussions,” Emir pointed to the report they submitted to the commission.

What is in the report the CHP submitted on December 4? It states, “As required by the provisions of Articles 90 and 153 of the Constitution, all decisions of the Constitutional Court and the ECHR must be implemented. There is no need to make any legal regulation for this.”

Let us once again refer to MHP’s Feti Yıldız. Yesterday, he gave a lecture on legislation to the media and explained what the ECHR’s “right to hope” ruling means.

MHP’s Assessment 12 Years Ago: “The Conspiracy Theory is Coming True”

As is known, the ECHR decided on March 18, 2014, that the terrorist leader should be allowed to benefit from the “right to hope.”

Shall we also recall what the MHP’s view on this matter was at that time?

The then-Deputy Chairman, and current AKP Deputy Tuğrul Türkeş, made a statement one day after the ECHR ruling, titled “The Divine Comedy of the ECHR,” which is still on the MHP website.

The beginning of the statement was as follows:

“Dante is an Italian poet known to the whole world for his epic poem ‘Divina Commedia’ (Divine Comedy) written in the 14th century. As it is understood, Dante is now becoming a source of inspiration not only for literary circles but also for the international legal community. Dante was referenced in various sections of the ECHR’s ruling for terrorist leader Abdullah Öcalan. In the ruling, by referring to Dante’s words, ‘You who enter here, leave all hope behind,’ it was said, ‘Prisons should not be hell.’”

Then the following assessments were made:

“The thesis that ‘Öcalan was given to Turkey conditionally and will one day enter Parliament,’ which was put forward about 20 years ago and initially perceived as a ‘conspiracy theory’ by certain individuals, has entered the path of being confirmed by recent developments. In other words; the ECHR’s latest ruling represents a vital stage in the West’s ‘freedom for Öcalan’ project, which the MHP voiced years ago.”

Then it was emphasized that the legitimacy of the then-Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ’s rightful statement that “Öcalan cannot be released” was “hidden in the actions of the 57th Government,” because the temporary article stating that “those whose death penalty is commuted to life imprisonment shall not be granted the right to conditional release” was added to the law on the “Execution of Penalties and Security Measures” on August 2, 2002, upon the MHP’s proposal, and that the Justice Minister drew his strength from the “resolute” stance the MHP displayed at that time.

At the end of the statement, it was said:

“We call on the AKP government to be sensitive and vigilant against the theatrical play being staged. In these days when law is being tried to be shaped by poetry and literature, we hope a judge from the ECHR does not get up and try to draw inspiration from the ‘prison’ criticisms of French thinker Michel Foucault. Because when Foucault’s ‘modern prison critique’ is taken into account, the prison system might have to be completely destroyed in accordance with Article 3 of the ECHR Convention...”

The MHP, which 12 years ago boasted about ensuring the terrorist leader remained in prison for life and called on the AKP to be sensitive and vigilant against the theatrical play being staged over the right to hope, is now trying to save the “founding leader” by saying “ECHR” and “right to hope.”

A complete “Divine Comedy,” isn’t it?!.

Müyesser YILDIZ

February 6, 2026