Erdoğan: 'There is no situation where a villa will be allocated'... Bahçeli: 'Get up from your seat and put the terrorist leader in it'...

During the 2013 resolution process, an LCD television was given to the terrorist leader in İmralı, initially upon the direct instruction of the then-Prime Minister Erdoğan.

Subsequently, when the allocation of a larger cell to the terrorist leader came to the agenda, the then-Deputy Prime Minister Yalçın Akdoğan said, “Prison conditions can be evaluated as the process progresses; there may be improvements,” while the Minister of Interior Efkan Ala made the following assessment:

“We will take steps that can contribute to the goal of solving this problem at its root and will not be against our nation, and we will continue on our path. If that step needs to be taken, it will be taken; but if it will contribute to the complete solution of this problem of the nation...”

In the end, a new 20-square-meter space consisting of a bedroom, a study, a bathroom, and a small garden was built for the terrorist leader.

With these developments, claims also emerged that the terrorist leader would be released to house arrest if the “solution process went as planned in the roadmap.” However, Erdoğan had the final word:

“This state has done everything that needed to be done regarding the improvement of these humanitarian conditions. There cannot be anything beyond this. Surely, there is no situation where a private villa will be allocated. Currently, he has 2 rooms there, and a television outside of his 2 rooms...”

The reaction shown by MHP Leader Devlet Bahçeli during that process was hard to swallow. He said exactly the following:

“It is a complete scandal that Prime Minister Erdoğan describes what he did for the İmralı murderer with pride. According to this, the terrorist leader has been brought back to life. Look at this, he has been given a television to watch his bloody team, and new opportunities have been offered for him to exercise. Prime Minister Erdoğan, by saying ‘this is all I can give,’ has sent a message to the terrorist leader through the media, tacitly creating a virtual negotiation environment. Mr. Prime Minister, I ask you, what more can you give the terrorist leader after this? You are the one who turned a life-sentenced terror convict into a political actor. You are the one providing distribution services for the messages and letters of the terrorist leader. You are the one preparing the environment for him to give instructions to his militants. You are the one providing the opportunity for him to express his views on the drafting of the Constitution. You are the one who had his so-called leadership approved by the masses at the cost of lowering the flag. You are the one reflecting his separatist ideas to the public. You are the one who turned İmralı into a public toilet. You are the one who got caught in bargains, nullified your political honor, and disgraced your national pride. What more could the İmralı murderer want, what more could he expect? He has attained everything thanks to you, and has obtained his de facto freedom through coercion. Mr. Prime Minister, in our opinion, there is only one thing left for you to do: That is to get up from the Prime Ministry seat and put the terrorist leader in your place.”

It Was His Fate to Give the Good News (!)

Bahçeli, who spoke so harshly 13 years ago, announced the good news the other day that a house with a garden, that is, a villa, had been built for the terrorist leader in İmralı!..

And he did so through the voice of Nagehan Alçı, whom he once called “sabotages the homeland, pleases the enemy” and a “sold pen,” and whose deputy described as a “disruptor, champagne intellectual, so-called journalist.”

Everyone Knows, Except the Minister of Justice

Before conveying the details of Bahçeli’s good news (!), let us recall the debates from 6 months ago.

First, DEM co-chair Tuncer Bakırhan announced that a structure or house had been built for the terrorist leader in İmralı, saying, “Actually, there is a campus, but what is its name, what is its status? What will we call it when we go there, how will we describe it? The issue needs to be clarified now. There may be developments on this subject in the near future.”

Immediately after, the other co-chair Tülay Hatimoğulları confirmed this claim, stating that the terrorist leader had not yet moved into the built residence and that the main issue was for the status of “chief negotiator” to take a legal form.

The Barzani media announced that this structure prepared for the terrorist leader was built as a large complex consisting of sections such as a meeting area, a study office, a library, and a sports area, that he would be able to watch at least 15 television channels there, that other prisoners in İmralı could occasionally be with him to serve as a secretariat, and that guards and a health personnel would be on duty in one part of the complex.

After all these claims, the following statement came from the Minister of Justice Akın Gürlek, to whom the prison is attached:

“There is no such thing there. There is an administrative campus there. Since it is an administrative campus, probably new buildings or places where needs are seen can be built there, but there is no situation of a private residence being built.”

Let us come to the Bahçeli-Nagehan Alçı meeting.

According to what Alçı recounted, Bahçeli said that a house had been built for the terrorist leader in İmralı and that he could live in this house in a way suitable for the flow of normal life. This place was “a place with a garden in front, offering humane living conditions, and having the comfort of a home”... But the terrorist leader had not yet refused to move into this house. Alçı asked the reason, and Bahçeli said, “Because he wants status”... When Alçı asked, “Can I share these with the public?” Bahçeli replied, “The discretion is yours. There is no problem from my side, you can share it.”

Whoever informed them, Nagehan Alçı also shared these details she “learned additionally”:

The terrorist leader had some demands; saying, “My age has reached a certain point. I cannot manage on my own in this house, I cannot take care of this place. I do not want to stay alone either,” he requested that a few people from his close circle and relatives accompany him. An application was even made for one of his relatives.

Nagehan Alçı, perhaps to relieve the public a little, stated that “this is important” and noted the following while stating that the house Bahçeli mentioned was in an area inside the prison, within a structure surrounded by walls:

“There is a garden area in front. Part of the garden is soil, part is concrete. The soil part was thought of in case he wants to do planting and gardening, and the concrete part in case he wants to do sports, as I understand it. There is a two-story structure inside. The lower floor is planned as a workspace (like an office), and the upper floor as a living area; he will carry out his work downstairs.”

It turns out that AKP member Şamil Tayyar also knew about what was happening, but never brought it to the agenda due to his “promise to the person who provided the information.” When Nagehan Alçı announced it, he also emphasized that the house in question, which Bahçeli announced, was a duplex villa and made the following claims:

“It has 250 square meters of indoor space. A garden twice the size of the two floors. It is planned as both a residence and a study office. It has all kinds of technical infrastructure, and there is video phone and internet access. Öcalan has not settled in yet, but he uses the villa's office conditions when needed. Öcalan's persistent demand regarding status was turned down by our President; he does not want to take a step before the disarmament process is finalized. This is the right thing to do.”

Oh, oh, oh; it is not a prison, it is officially a mansion!..

The Villa is Done, But What About the Laws?

If these claims by Nagehan Alçı and Şamil Tayyar are true; let us point out another very important point, starting from Erdoğan’s words 13 years ago, saying, “It is a good thing that a private villa was not allocated!..”

While in all prisons, even the 's' of soil and the 'p' of plant are forbidden, and all prisoners are only given sports opportunities under certain periods and conditions; the terrorist leader will do planting and gardening, and will engage in sports...

While hundreds of elderly or very seriously ill prisoners try to survive with their own means or with the help of other prisoners; the terrorist leader will be accompanied by a few people from his close circle and relatives...

While internet is forbidden for all prisoners and video phones are forbidden for terror convicts; the terrorist leader will be allowed to benefit from these opportunities, is that so?!

Of course, this is what befits the one who is not the terrorist leader responsible for the deaths of 40 thousand people, but the “founding leader,” right?

But how many laws and how many regulations, along with the Constitution, will be thrown into the trash for a “special” application for the “terrorist leader”?.. What, will a new “sui generis” law be enacted, or will it depend on an “order”?!

Isn't the Framework Law Also Being Thrown Into the Trash?

What was the first condition of the terrorist leader-PKK-DEM regarding the process where it was said “there is no bargaining, no give-and-take”; it was “the liberation of İmralı.”

However, in the PKK law accepted with a record number of votes in the Parliament; those who received aggravated life imprisonment before 2005 or crimes that create an aggravated life imprisonment obligation were kept out of the scope.

Thus, it was explained that the way for the terrorist leader to benefit from the law was blocked.

Numan Kurtulmuş, the head of the resolution process in the Parliament, said at every opportunity, “the sensitive point here”, that “the senior executives of the organization were very clearly excluded from the scope, and it is not possible for any senior official of the organization, including İmralı, to benefit from the law in this state.”

Now, if the villa picture announced by Nagehan Alçı and Şamil Tayyar is not officially “the liberation of İmralı,” then what is it?!

Bahçeli’s “Live Broadcast from İmralı” Call

Let us present another sample of the reaction shown by MHP Leader Devlet Bahçeli during the first resolution process regarding the improvement of conditions in İmralı.

For example, he made a recommendation and proposal to Erdoğan, saying, “Participate together in a television channel you find suitable with the terrorist leader on the island of İmralı, moderated by Cengiz Çandar, whose work and whose agency he is working for are more or less known to us.”...

When Erdoğan “gifted a television to the İmralı murderer as a New Year's gift and consolation bonus”; he said, “Following this, the allocation of a computer dropped from the inventory to the terrorist leader so that he can communicate with his old murder partners via Facebook, Twitter, or Skype, and subsequently starting to chat with the Prime Minister at night should not be seen as a miracle or something that will not happen. After all, everything is between Prime Minister Erdoğan’s two lips.”...

Again, while wanting Erdoğan and the terrorist leader to participate together in a live broadcast to be made from İmralı on a pro-government television channel and explain their thoughts to our nation, he said, “The İmralı murderer should explain the democratic confederal administration, and the Prime Minister should explain the Greater Middle East Project (BOP), and the Turkish nation should recognize these two figures of division in all their aspects.”...

Looking at the course of events, these could also happen!..

But let us finish with these words of Bahçeli from 13 years ago:

“It should be known that the Turkish nation is entirely against the bargains made with the PKK, the normalization of separatism, and the terrorist leader obtaining the status of a so-called political actor... Let it not be forgotten that the bankrupt political mentality that makes the PKK live in spring and forces the Turkish nation into a dark winter will eventually end, will definitely be exhausted, and will fade away like a candle.”

Müyesser YILDIZ

September 14, 2026