Shift in rhetoric within the People's Alliance: After Bahçeli, Hakan Fidan also calls terrorist leader Öcalan 'founding leader'! 'Ankara is in a new state of activity...'

Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan made statements regarding the agenda during a live broadcast on tv100.

Speaking about the new resolution process, of which MHP Chairman Devlet Bahçeli is the architect, Fidan said, "With the call made from İmralı, the founding leader of the organization said that the time for the organization to dissolve itself has come and gone. This is a matter that aligns with current realities. We hope the organization heeds this call. As the state, we have been saying this for years anyway."

It drew attention that Minister Fidan used a similar expression after MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli referred to terrorist leader Abdullah Öcalan as the "founding leader of the PKK" in his statement on March 10.

Drawing attention to the shift in rhetoric within the People's Alliance, journalist and author Murat Yetkin commented, "Thus, we can say that Fidan has made referring to Öcalan as the 'founding leader' of the PKK a common rhetoric of the People's Alliance—though it is unknown how long it will last."

Stating that the aforementioned shift in rhetoric "shows that the process has reached a new stage," Yetkin suggested that "Ankara is in a new state of activity."

"Both Öcalan being honored by the ruling front with the title of 'founder' and the rejection of the attempt to create an impression of negotiation—where Turkey also ceases fire against the PKK's own ceasefire declaration—are parallel to developments in Syria," said Yetkin, adding, "(...) we can expect new moves in the coming days as we celebrate the March 21 Nevruz holiday over the weekend." 

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