ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Politician Sirri Sureyya Onder, who played a key role in nascent peace talks between Ankara and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), passed away on Saturday, according to an announcement from the hospital where he was receiving treatment.
“Mr. Sirri Sureyya Onder, who had been under care in our intensive care unit for 18 days, sadly passed away on 03.05.2025 at 16:10 due to multiple organ failure,” read a statement from Istanbul’s Florence Nightingale Hospital.
Onder had entered the hospital after suffering a heart attack.
The 62 year-old was a member of the Turkish parliament on the ticket of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party).
Confirming his death, DEM Party said “fulfilling the struggle for peace that he pursued at the cost of his life is a duty of loyalty to his memory.”
Onder, who served as deputy speaker of the Turkish parliament before his death, was also a film director, actor, screenwriter, and columnist.
His death comes at a pivotal moment in the peace process. He was part of the Imrali delegation that has been mediating peace talks between the PKK and the Turkish state.
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 PKK 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.
Devlet Bahceli, leader of the far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), who initiated the new peace talks, expressed his sadness over Onder’s death and described him as “an individual who united art and politics in his persona, and who was deserving of the public’s respect and affection for his modest life and sensible nature.”
He added that he believes “a manifestation of a Turkey free from terrorism will be a spiritual gift to the late Mr. Onder and an eternal service to our national unity and brotherhood.”
Ozgur Ozel, leader of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), also praised Onder in a statement on his passing.
“We witness that he spent his life on the path of peace, even though he was imprisoned without being guilty and was subjected to oppression,” Ozel said on X.
Ocalan, in a condolence message shared by DEM Party, said he was mourning the loss of “a true son of the people.”
“He had an unforgettable diligence and hard work in order to live together in peace. He had a masterful skill of turning all the negatives into positives. He was a true embodiment of peace and the culture of peace,” Ocalan said.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, after expressing his condolences in a post on X, stated, “I sincerely believe that we will reach the ‘Terror-Free Turkey’ destination that Sirri Sureyya Onder has been working hard on recently.”
Onder was born to a Turkmen family July 7, 1962 in Adiyaman province. He served as a member of parliament as part of several pro-Kurdish parties. He spent time in jail after the 1980 coup. He was jailed again in 2018 after he was convicted of propaganda for a terrorist organization alongside Kurdish politician Selahattin Demirtas. He was released the following year after a court ruled his right to freedom of expression had been violated.
Updated at 10:10 pm
