Veterans... Mother Pakize... Peace Mothers...

“Terror-Free Turkey” project, also known as the PKK opening, three notes from yesterday...

While returning from South Korea, Erdoğan stated that progress in the process might sometimes not be visible due to the “delicacy of the matter,” and said that they would move to a “new phase” once “the laying down of arms is fully realized and the detection and verification processes are completed.”

Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş, the coordinator of the opening in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM), argued for the first time that the process is being successfully maintained “thanks to the overlap of state wisdom and the national conscience,” and claimed that the “organization” also, for the first time, “aspires to lay down its arms” so openly.

Abdülkadir Selvi, the voice of the government, also expressed this rebellion and reproach regarding the lack of interest in the PKK opening:

“Historic developments are taking place in the PKK's liquidation process, but unfortunately, it does not occupy the place it deserves on our agenda. Wasn't the PKK our survival issue? Wasn't the PKK the 50-year shackle on our feet? The PKK is liquidating itself, but it doesn't get as much attention as Burcu Kıratlı's love life. I am rebelling against this. Sometimes I feel like taking a big loudspeaker, climbing to the top of Çankaya, and shouting, ‘Hey people, the PKK is ending, are you aware?’”

What could this “new phase” in Erdoğan's statement be?.. Or, regarding Kurtulmuş's words that the PKK “aspires to lay down its arms,” are they laying them down unconditionally?

No. Their simplest (!) demand is the release of the terrorist leader in İmralı. Imagine the rest!..

If Abdülkadir Selvi, unable to bear it any longer, takes a big loudspeaker and climbs to the top of Çankaya, could we ask him to also ask this?

“Hey people!.. Do you consent to the release of the terrorist leader?”

They Experienced This for 48 Days

Before touching upon the two events that took place this week within the scope of the PKK opening, let us recall what happened during the protests held by families of fallen soldiers and veterans last July-August, demanding equal personal and social rights.

Normally, the TBMM was supposed to go on recess on July 1. But a decision was made to work on the PKK law. Meanwhile, a package was hastily prepared for the families of the fallen and veterans. Two laws were passed one after another and published in the Official Gazette on the same day.

- The prepared package was far below the expectations of the veterans who were holding a sit-in at Güvenpark; it only envisioned a small salary increase. When the veterans went to the TBMM to make their voices heard by the TBMM National Defense Commission, they were met with heavy security measures. They had halva with them for a friend who had passed away a week earlier. They were going to offer it to the commission members. However, they were not allowed. When they got inside, they waited on the floor in front of the commission door for a long time. Only through the efforts of IYI Party deputies was Platform Spokesperson Erdem Çerçioğlu allowed to enter the meeting. Çerçioğlu listed their demands in his 5-minute speech, but none of them were reflected in the package.

- At that time, there was both heavy rain and intense heat. Çankaya Municipality sent a few tents for the veterans; however, the police had them removed because they had the municipality's name on them.

- They wanted to go to the park in front of the Parliament and make a statement. The police both cried and blocked their way with shields.

- Pakize Akbaba, President of the Association of Mothers of the Fallen, came to Güvenpark to support them. Meanwhile, she said she would go to the Parliament Park alone and make a statement. Even though the Parliament had long been on recess, the police became anxious and tried to find out when she would go; she said, “You are also my children, I will not upset you. If not now, I will go in October.” Then she couldn't bear it and wanted to go in front of the Ministry of Justice to meet with the minister or his deputies and ask, “How can you forgive the murderer of my child?” When she couldn't find anyone to talk to, she rebelled.

- At the dawn of that rebellion by Mother Pakize, at 04:30, a raid was conducted, and the veterans were kicked out of Güvenpark and stuffed into the Veterans' Dormitory. When they wanted to leave there and go to the Ministry of Family, their way was blocked again. When they were taken back to the Veterans' Dormitory, a barrier of soldiers was set up in front of them, and they were not allowed in. However, after the police's intervention, they were allowed to stay there.

- Despite all their attempts, they could not find anyone to talk to at the Ministry of Family and the Ministry of National Defense. Meanwhile, many of them were removed from the Veterans' Dormitory.

- Ultimately, the veterans were shown a place in Kurtuluş Park. While they were there, when they wanted to go in front of the Ministry of National Defense one day to make a statement, the police blocked their way again. They were informed that they would be detained. IYI Party Deputy Chairman and Bursa Deputy Selçuk Türkoğlu, who came to support them, was subjected to police violence and ended up in the hospital.

- Throughout this entire process, apart from former AKP deputy Şamil Tayyar and Chief Presidential Advisor Oktay Saral, not a single sound came from the government.

- From the 47th day of the protest, pressure began to be put on the veterans to pause the protest and leave Kurtuluş Park. The only request of the veterans was, “Let an official acknowledge us, give us a promise for October.”

- August 30 was approaching, and the veterans were going to go to Anıtkabir, to Gazi Mustafa Kemal, as a group. The authorities became very anxious. Many ways and methods were tried, including warnings of detention. Finally, the police reached Chief Presidential Advisor Oktay Saral on the night of August 28. Saral, who spoke to the veterans via video call, promised to do his best when the Parliament opened in October, and thus the protest was ended. The police did not allow them to go to Anıtkabir, not even on August 30, but even on August 29, and demanded that they leave Ankara immediately.

- In those 48 days, the leaking of the veterans' private files to the pro-government media, the banning of some veterans, especially Erdem Çerçioğlu, from entering the Veterans' Dormitory, and the warnings that their employment contracts would be terminated if they continued the protest were the icing on the cake.

Saral Said “I Will Deal With It in November”

The Parliament opened, October ended. Chief Presidential Advisor Oktay Saral, who gave his word to the veterans and ensured they ended the protest, was dismissed from his post because he reacted to the headscarf practice in Azerbaijan.

In other words, there is not the slightest step taken for the veterans. They are preparing to come to Ankara again starting tomorrow.

To learn the latest situation, I asked Platform Spokesperson Erdem Çerçioğlu if there was any development and if they had met with Oktay Saral before his dismissal. While stating that they had sent a letter to the TBMM National Defense Commission to be called when they started working, but there was no response, he said the following about Saral:

“A friend of ours called and said, ‘I won't be in Ankara in October, I will come in November and deal with it,’ but it wasn't meant to be, he was dismissed.”

They Entered the Parliament with Ululations

As for the two events that took place this week, which are the reason we are recalling all of this;

Although it is called “their own unique decisions,” it is obvious that with the organization of the PKK-DEM in 24 provinces, 300 women called “peace mothers” gathered in Diyarbakır and Van and came to Ankara for a two-day “peace vigil” protest.

The “peace mothers,” who settled in Kurtuluş Park, first visited the DEM Party on Monday. Then they made a statement in the TBMM Park.

On Tuesday, they went to the Parliament as a delegation with ululations and attended the DEM Group meeting. They also met with the administrators of other parties, except for the IYI Party, led by Özgür Özel, accompanied by DEM deputies. Finally, they were received by TBMM Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş the day before yesterday.

So, what was the reason for these visits?

Again, primarily the release of the terrorist leader in İmralı and the solution to the “Kurdish issue”!..

In the words of DEM co-chairs Tülay Hatimoğulları and Tuncer Bakırhan, they wanted “whether it is a soldier's mother or a guerrilla's mother... for no mother to cry anymore and for peace to win.”

As if there is a “war” in the country. What is happening is PKK terrorism, and what is meant by “peace” is nothing other than the acceptance of the PKK's separatist demands!..

The remedy for mothers not crying is clear; the terrorist organization will lay down its arms unconditionally, surrender, and give up separatism.

What I really cannot understand is how and why they can ask for the pardon of the terrorist leader who has made both the soldier's mother and themselves cry for 40 years, and why the authorities do not ask or question this!..

Let's look at the statement of AKP Group Deputy Chairman Abdullah Güler, who welcomed the “peace mothers” with the words “Rojbaş, welcome,” regarding the meeting; he said, “Of course, they conveyed some of their special expectations and views. We will share them later with our own people. We exchanged views on the progress of the process, the period after the law, their own views, expectations, and what can be done from now on.”

As for the reception by TBMM Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş; according to what the DEM members conveyed, the “peace mothers” again asked for the release of the terrorist leader and said, “Let Kurds and Turks not cry anymore, let no blood be shed.” Kurtulmuş, who “hosted them with great interest and political courtesy,” emphasized “determination and the responsibility that the political institution must undertake.”

Did You Say “National Conscience”?

Kurtulmuş argues that the PKK process is “proceeding successfully as a result of the overlap of state wisdom and national conscience”; here, let us remain silent and leave the floor to IYI Party Deputy Chairman Kevser Ofluoğlu. She asked the following:

“Veterans wanted to meet with an interlocutor from the government that manages the state for exactly 48 days, you did not meet. They were kicked out of Güvenpark with their prosthetics stuffed into trash bags. We see as a nation that you have hosted those who want freedom for the terrorist leader, the baby killer, in the seat of honor. Why did you not accept our veterans, their mothers, and their wives, who made these lands a homeland and paid the price with their blood and lives, Mr. Numan Kurtulmuş?”

And the other event, another “conscience” reckoning.

A lawsuit was filed against Pakize Akbaba, President of the Association of Mothers of the Fallen, who reacted to Defense Minister Yaşar Güler at the funeral ceremony of our 20 soldiers who were martyred as a result of our cargo plane crash in Azerbaijan 1 year ago, saying, “We do not want terror in the Parliament, you cannot forgive the murderers of our children,” to which Güler replied by shaking his finger, “Know your place, you are just a martyr's mother.”

Fortunately, the “peace mothers,” who want freedom for the terrorist leader, were not hosted by Defense Minister Güler. Thank goodness for that!..

Müyesser YILDIZ

November 6, 2026