As Bahçeli Says 'The Final Word Belongs to the Turkish Nation'...

The declaration published by the terrorist leader in 2002 was titled “Peace and Free Union”.

The scope of the 10-point declaration was, in its main headings, as follows:

- “If a final disarmament is desired, a serious package must be prepared. Neither a repentance law nor a general amnesty. There must be a law for social peace and democratic participation, a calendar must be drawn up until 2005, and a roadmap must be developed for this.”

- “With the law to be enacted, both the participation of armed forces in the legal, democratic process and the inclusion of more than 5 thousand detainees in prisons in this process will become the fundamental basis for the resolution of the problem. The law is the first step of this; the rest will develop step by step.”

- “The ban on education and broadcasting in language and culture is a constant invitation to counter-violence.”

- “Kurds want to take part in the democratic content of the republic as an essential constituent element based on the spirit of Constitutional citizenship and live within it in the strongest democratic union based on a free union.”

- “If the solution to the problem is developed within the democratic system in Turkey, it is certain that this will also function as a model of a democratic system to be emulated in the Middle East. All peoples of the Middle East must unite on the basis of a democratic federation.”

Thirteen years later, on February 28, 2015, two AKP ministers, a Group Deputy Chairman, and the Undersecretary of Public Order, together with the then-Imralı delegation of the HDP, jointly published the 10-point “Dolmabahçe Agreement”.

In the agreement, which the HDP side announced with the words, “We have reached an important stage of a long process... This invitation is a historical declaration of intent for democratic politics to replace armed struggle,” and the AKP side with the words, “The deactivation of weapons will accelerate democratic development,” the following points were also included:

“Legal and democratic guarantees of free citizenship... The relationship of democratic politics with the state and society and its institutionalization... Development of a pluralistic democratic understanding towards the concept, definition, and recognition of identity... Defining the democratic republic, common homeland, and nation with democratic criteria, and securing them with legal and constitutional guarantees within a pluralistic democratic system... A new constitution aiming to internalize all these democratic moves and transformations.”

“Until the Terrorist Organization Gets What It Wants from the AKP”

MHP Leader Bahçeli showed the harshest reaction to the Dolmabahçe Agreement. Calling it a “manifesto of division” and stating, “Treason has gained official status. With the joint statement, the AKP and the PKK have been equated,” Bahçeli said, in summary, the following:

“These 10 points dictated by the murderer in Imralı are the roadmap for the division of Turkey... The new democratic Republic of the AKP and the PKK will be built on these principles. The terrorist leader will dictate the new definition of homeland, nation, and identity... the process disgrace will be concluded with a new constitution, the dissolution will become concrete, and Turkey will completely fall apart... The PKK has not laid down its arms, it has not given up on weapons. And it has no intention to do so. Treason negotiations are continuing under the threat of weapons. The terrorist organization is only saying that it will not take action until it gets what it wants from the AKP... The essence of the ‘give-and-take’ bargaining here is this: Give the Presidency, get autonomy. Give the Presidency, get the freedom of the terrorist leader... The bloody network will not be able to be the representative of my Kurdish-origin brothers. The murderer in Imralı will not be able to lead my Kurdish-origin brothers.”

What Has Changed?

What is the difference between the current process, which began with the call Bahçeli himself made to the terrorist leader, and which the government calls a “Turkey without terror” while the terrorist leader-Qandil-DEM call it “peace and a democratic society,” and the previous ones? Are the same demands not being listed again?

In 2015, Bahçeli had made the assessment, “The PKK has not laid down its arms, it has no intention to do so. It is only saying that it will not take action until it gets what it wants from the AKP.” Meanwhile, the terrorist leader in Qandil, Murat Karayılan, while announcing the number of PKK members who have died since 1976 in recent days, stated, “We have reached the conclusion that the armed war has played the role it was supposed to play and has revealed its results. From now on, we will achieve more success by conducting the struggle through political methods and within the framework of the law,” and then noted that “if the process reaches success, the weapon will be deactivated.”

Does Bahçeli Not Hear These?

What is meant by “the process reaching success”?

They have been posturing as if they have won a “victory” on all fronts for months; let us suffice with just relaying the speeches of the DEM co-chairs from a few days ago.

Tuncer Bakırhan, at a “public meeting” in Urfa, after congratulating Bahçeli, Erdoğan, and the opposition parties along with the terrorist leader, first explained that “for the first time in the 100-year history of the Parliament, the Kurdish issue is being discussed on a legal basis, and for the first time a law has been passed for the Kurdish issue.”

Then, stating that the purpose of this law is not to “solve the Kurdish issue” but to “eliminate the PKK and all its consequences, remove weapons and violence from the equation, and discuss and solve the Kurdish issue on a legal and political basis,” he listed their known demands such as “education in the mother tongue, recognition of Kurdish identity, the European Charter of Local Self-Government, and equal citizenship.”

Tülay Hatimoğulları, at a “public meeting” held in İzmir on August 30 Victory Day, emphasized that “the price paid for 50 years has a huge share in establishing the table in Imralı, reaching a certain stage in Rojava, and the Kurdish people in Iran reaching a position of balance,” and promised a “democratic republic” to “all different peoples and faiths,” primarily “Turks, Yörüks, Bosniaks, Armenians, Greeks, Pomaks, Albanians, Circassians, and Abkhazians,” in addition to the Kurds. She then claimed that “these developments and this process will never divide Turkey.”

While the DEM members were saying these things, MHP Leader Devlet Bahçeli, in his message published on the occasion of August 30 Victory Day, said, “The final word on this homeland belongs to the Turkish nation!.. How happy is the one who says I am a Turk,” is that so?!

In that case; either they are unaware of these challenges from their “fellow travelers” in the process... Or these are expressions voiced entirely to reduce the reactions of the Turkish Nation!..

Müyesser YILDIZ

September 2, 2026