Far-right leader Bahçeli calls several Kurdish politicians, including Demirtaş

Following Öcalan’s call for the dissolution of the PKK, Erdoğan’s ally Bahçeli has called several Kurdish politicians, including jailed Selahattin Demirtaş. A few months ago, Bahçeli was one of the first ones who publicly called on Öcalan to announce the dissolution of the PKK.

Tuesday March 04 2025 12:30 am

Duvar English

Far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli has called several Kurdish politicians in recent days following Abdullah Öcalan’s call on the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) to disarm and dissolve itself.

Jailed PKK leader Öcalan on Feb. 27 called on the PKK to disarm and dissolve itself, saying they must seek democratic consensus as “separate nation-state, federation, administrative autonomy or culturalist solutions fails to answer the historical sociology of the society” currently.

In response, the PKK on March 1 declared a ceasefire against Turkey.

After Öcalan’s call, Bahçeli called ousted Mardin co-Mayor Ahmet Türk, pro-Kurdish DEM Party co-chair Tuncer Bakırhan, DEM Party MPs Pervin Buldan and Sırrı Süreyya Önder, jailed former HDP co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş on phone.

Accordingly, Bahçeli thanked Demirtaş for his column on Duvar while the latter was allowed to visit his wife who underwent a surgery, Yıldıray Oğur reported in his column.

“We hope everything will go well, I am very happy about (the move),” Bahçeli told Ahmet Türk according to reporting by İsmail Saymaz of Halk TV.

Meanwhile, Öcalan said during the DEM Party delegation’s visit that “If Mr. Bahçeli transformed, everyone can transform,” Pervin Buldan noted.

What happened?

Devlet Bahçeli in October 2024 started the new process after his unexpected call suggesting that Öcalan announce an end to the insurgency in exchange for the possibility of his release.

He has been known for his stance against the DEM Party and Kurdish politicians despite meeting with them after the DEM Party delegation began to visit Öcalan in prison.

Government figures, including President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, started making seemingly reconciliation efforts regarding the Kurdish issue.

In one of the surprising moves, Bahçeli, who previously called for the closure of the DEM Party on several occasions, invited Öcalan to announce the dissolution of the PKK at the Parliament.

In the latest move of the process, Öcalan called on the PKK to disarm and dissolve itself following three visits of the DEM Party politicians to the İmralı Island.

Öcalan was arrested in 1999 and is serving a life sentence in a prison on İmralı Island alongside other five PKK convicts.