 on Wednesday returned to parliament following a three-month absence due to heart surgery and attended a parliamentary memorial for a prominent lawmaker who died on May 3.){kind=link}
Devlet Bahçeli, the leader of Turkey’s far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), on Wednesday returned to parliament following a three-month absence due to heart surgery and attended a parliamentary memorial for Sırrı Süreyya Önder, a prominent lawmaker who died on May 3, the Serbestiyet news website reported.
Bahçeli joined members of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) and Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş at a ceremony in parliament where Önder’s brother Ali Önder along with DEM Party chairpersons Tülay Hatimoğulları and Tuncer Bakırhan and other DEM Party officials accepted condolences.
In an unexpected gesture, he was seen touching a photo of Önder and saying, “May he rest in peace.” He then stood in prayer alongside DEM Party lawmakers and other members of parliament.
TBMM’de Sırrı Süreyya Önder’in taziyesine giden Devlet Bahçeli, Önder’in fotoğrafına dokundu.
@hilalkoyluhttps://t.co/IaGEAad6df pic.twitter.com/iksaR79urZ
— serbestiyet (@serbestiyetweb) May 7, 2025
Bahçeli, 76, was hospitalized and underwent heart surgery in February. His long absence from weekly party meetings and other events sparked intense speculation on social media, including unfounded rumors about his death.
Earlier in the day, a formal tribute was held in the general assembly, where lawmakers observed a moment of silence and wore badges featuring Önder’s photo.
Önder, a former actor and film director, was part of a delegation that negotiated with Abdullah Öcalan, the jailed leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), resulting in Öcalan making a historic call to his outlawed group in February to lay down its arms and disband.
Ironically, the peace talks had begun with political backing from Bahçeli, although the nationalist leader was a fierce opponent of pro-Kurdish political movements, frequently accusing them of separatism and terrorism.
Önder was also a central figure in the 2013–2015 peace process between the Turkish government and the PKK, which collapsed.
The politician, respected across Turkey’s political spectrum for his efforts to end the conflict between Ankara and the PKK, died at the age of 62 two-and-a-half weeks after undergoing heart surgery following cardiac arrest on April 15.
Meanwhile, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Bahçeli met for the first time on Tuesday following Bahçeli’s surgery. It was their first meeting since January.
The two met at Bahçeli’s residence in Ankara, in a symbolic display of unity within Turkey’s ruling alliance.