With whom and what will the 'chief negotiator' negotiate?!

Let us underline this heavily: The opening equation involving Öcalan proposed by MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli was, "Dissolve the organization, lay down arms, and benefit from the right to hope."

The PKK branch of the separatist terrorist organization supposedly dissolved itself and laid down arms by burning 30 Kalashnikovs!..

The scene of burning weapons must have seemed very convincing to Erdoğan as well, as he gave the instruction for flags to be hung everywhere.

The stage we have reached is this:

The terrorist leader in İmralı and his men claim they have fulfilled their promises and want the legal regulations to be enacted as soon as possible.

The government side, on the other hand, says: "The terrorist organization will lay down its arms with all its elements, the MIT and the TSK will verify that this has taken place, and only then will the legal regulations come into play."

It is unclear what they mean by "legal regulations"; for now, we know that what will happen to the terrorists coming down from the mountains and whether they will receive sentences or not is being discussed.

There was another statement Bahçeli frequently repeated; he had given the assurance, "We are not in a bargain. We are completely closed to a give-and-take process." However, later, for some reason, he became concerned about the "status gap of İmralı, which serves a terror-free Turkey," and asked how this gap would be closed.

DEM Party Group Deputy Chairman Sezai Temelli also stood up last week and, claiming that the terrorist leader in İmralı is a "chief negotiator and political interlocutor," said, "This must now reach a legal basis, not just de facto."

According to the Turkish Language Association dictionary, negotiation means "exchanging ideas on a subject, consulting," and a chief negotiator means "a state official authorized to represent their country to discuss and resolve a specific issue within international unions."

It is obvious that the baby killer, who has been sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment, does not/cannot fit the definition of a "chief negotiator." What remains is the question of which subject or subjects the terrorist leader will exchange ideas on, and with whom.

Boundless Demands

The data we have is as follows:

- It was reported that a "large" number of "high-level state officials" also participated in the last İmralı visit by DEM on March 27 and that "official negotiations" were held...

- The constant lead actor of İmralı, Deputy Speaker of the Grand National Assembly Pervin Buldan, announced that the terrorist leader came to this meeting with a draft of 9-10 articles, that the main agenda was the concrete steps that need to be taken, and that beyond the terrorist leader's status and position, they discussed who the law to be enacted for the terrorists coming down from the mountains would cover, and whether it would be a holistic law or separate categorizations. While Buldan brandished a stick under the guise of a threat, saying, "Mr. Öcalan needs to see and approve this draft. If it is not a holistic law, Öcalan and the PKK will oppose it," she also noted that "they are trying to solve a 100-year-old issue, and are seeking solutions for all these, such as unsolved murders and the ban on language..."

- Before the March 27 meeting, Mustafa Karasu, one of the terrorist leaders in Qandil, demanded, for the process to succeed, not only "the freedom of leader Apo" but also, "We will go, they won't give sentences; this doesn't solve the problem. Are we going to go and sit at home? Or will all these people, the guerrillas, those who carry out this struggle, sit at home? Democratic politics must be practiced, and its laws must be enacted."

- DEM spokesperson Ayşegül Doğan said, "Today, approximately 60 million Kurds in the world need to live with their own rights. Kurds want their national rights to be recognized wherever they are."

- Meanwhile, a new formation called the "Kurdish National Platform" emerged in Diyarbakır. In the "political stance document" announced at the formation's founding conference on March 28-29, it included goals such as "Kurds gaining a political, geographical, administrative, and legal status stemming from being a 'nation' and Kurdish becoming an official language," and while the "priority field of work is Northern Kurdistan (East-Southeast Anatolia) and Turkey," it also aimed to ensure "national unity with all Kurdish figures and institutions" in the world...

- As if the terrorist leader, the PKK, and DEM were demanding different things, while it was heard that the government side was uncomfortable with the 'Kurdish National Platform,' this platform, a few days ago, under the name of a "common vision document," and referencing the UN Charter and international conventions, made demands such as "the constitutional guarantee of the right to self-determination" and "education in the mother tongue."

In short; the terrorist leader, who is considered a "chief negotiator," is currently only meeting with the state delegation. Well, when it comes to his demands that will eliminate Turkey's unitary and national structure, who will be his interlocutor? Since he cannot "negotiate" these with civil servants or journalists, academics, and writers sent to İmralı; won't he want to sit at the table with someone from the government or the Parliament this time?!

What is the Speaker of the Parliament Saying?

Let's come to Numan Kurtulmuş, the follower in the TBMM of the genie that MHP leader Bahçeli let out of the bottle.

While it is obvious that the demands have far exceeded the situation of the terrorists coming down from the mountains, when asked, "When will the process laws be enacted?" he replied, "Once it is determined that the weapons have been surrendered and the organization has dissolved itself, you can enact the law you speak of in one or two hours."

Regarding the message from CHP Chairman Özgür Özel, "If non-custodial trials are not brought to the agenda, we will walk away from the table," he said the following:

"The matter is on track, there is no turning back from here. God forbid if it remains unfinished, there will be a very heavy price for this. May Turkey not pay such a price again."

Weren't we supposed to know the terrorists in Turkey down to their shoe sizes?.. Hadn't they left the country?.. And wasn't this process started because our security forces had ended terrorism?..

So what; just so the process is not turned back from, just so the process does not remain unfinished, will the demands of the separatist terrorists be accepted? God forbid, is it not known how heavy the price this will make Turkey pay will be?

Müyesser YILDIZ

May 3, 2026