ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Politician Sirri Sureyya Onder remains in intensive care in Istanbul following a heart attack earlier this week, the hospital said on Friday.
“Our patient, Mr. Sirri Sureyya Onder, continues to receive intensive care treatment. His general condition remains the same, maintaining intensive care stability similarly in line with yesterday's parameters. Our treatments for infection and inflammation are continuing,” Istanbul’s Florence Nightingale Hospital said in a statement.
“Our patient remains at high risk and his life-threatening condition continues,” it added.
Onder, 62, is a member of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) and is part of the Imrali delegation that has been mediating peace talks between the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the Turkish state. He suffered a heart attack on Tuesday and underwent a 12-hour surgery.
Ahmet Turk, a veteran Kurdish politician, called Onder a dear friend and politician who has advocated for peace.
“We hope that his health returns to him soon and that he is in good health. We want to see Sirri like before once again,” he said.
DEM Party said they have received queries about Onder’s condition and well-wishes from politicians across the spectrum. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called DEM Party co-chair Pervin Buldan twice for updates on Onder’s medical care. The leaders of Turkey’s main political parties and Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani and Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) leader Masoud Barzani have also reached out, and many people from art, politics and civil society circles have visited the hospital, DEM Party said on Facebook.
Onder’s health scare comes at a pivotal moment in the peace process.
At the end of February, DEM Party shared with the public a letter from Abdullah Ocalan, the leader of the PKK who is imprisoned on Imrali island. In the letter, he urged the group to disarm and disband. His message has sparked hope for an end to four decades of a conflict that has taken 40,000 lives.
The PKK subsequently announced a unilateral ceasefire and said they would hold a congress to decide their future, but have insisted that Ocalan should be released from jail to lead the process.
Ankara has demanded that the PKK immediately disarm and dissolve itself.
