Sırrı Süreyya Önder, Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of Turkey and a prominent member of the pro-Kurdish opposition, underwent emergency heart surgery in İstanbul late Tuesday night after suffering a severe cardiovascular episode that doctors later diagnosed as a life-threatening aortic dissection.
The 61-year-old parliamentarian, who also represents İstanbul for the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party, was admitted to Florence Nightingale Hospital following acute chest pain. Medical staff identified a rupture in the main artery leaving his heart, prompting an immediate and complex surgical intervention that lasted more than eight hours.
Önder is a well-known political figure in Turkey, not only as a senior parliamentarian but also as a long-time advocate of Kurdish rights and a member of the so-called “İmralı delegation” — a group of intermediaries that played a key role in now-dormant peace talks between the Turkish government and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) during the 2010s.
His medical emergency triggered an outpouring of cross-party support and rare expressions of solidarity in a highly polarised political landscape.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, leader of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), personally called DEM Party MP Pervin Buldan to convey his best wishes for Önder’s recovery. Buldan told local news agency ANKA that Erdoğan assured her the surgical team consisted of “the best doctors in Turkey”.
Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz, Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş, and Health Minister Kemal Memişoğlu also issued public messages wishing Önder a speedy recovery. Memişoğlu confirmed via social media that aortic dissection — a condition in which the inner layer of the aorta tears — was the cause, and that Önder was receiving close post-operative care.
“Surgical intervention was successfully carried out,” the minister wrote. “The patient’s condition is being carefully monitored.”
Opposition leaders from across the spectrum echoed well-wishes. Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Özgür Özel, former foreign minister and Democracy and Progress (DEVA) Party leader Ali Babacan, CHP deputies Burhanettin Bulut, Gökan Zeybek and Özgür Karabat, and New Welfare Party head Fatih Erbakan all released messages of support.
“I extend my best wishes to Deputy Speaker of the Grand National Assembly and DEM Party İstanbul MP Sırrı Süreyya Önder, and wish him a speedy recovery,” Özel said.
“We are closely following his health condition and hope he regains his health as soon as possible, returns to duty, and continues to defend peace for everyone,” he added.
Former Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, now leader of the Future Party, added his voice, saying: “I wish Mr Önder a rapid and full recovery.”
Ömer Çelik, spokesperson for Erdoğan’s AKP, also wrote: “We convey our best wishes to Mr Sırrı Süreyya Önder. We wish him a swift return to health.”
Önder is not only a lawmaker but also a cultural icon, film director, and former political prisoner. He played a central role in the peace talks between the Turkish state and the imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan, acting as one of the few channels of communication between the Turkish government and Kurdish leadership during the 2013–2015 negotiations.
Together with Pervin Buldan and other DEM Party figures, Önder formed the “İmralı delegation” — named after the prison island where Öcalan is held. Though the peace process collapsed in mid-2015, the delegation remains symbolically and politically significant.
His illness came just days ahead of a planned meeting between DEM Party members and Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç, reportedly to discuss the broader Kurdish question and the conditions of Öcalan’s imprisonment. It remains unclear whether the meeting will proceed as planned.
Among the most heartfelt messages came from jailed Kurdish politician Selahattin Demirtaş, who wrote an open letter from Edirne prison praising Önder’s lifelong commitment to peace.
“Being a peace envoy is a hard job,” wrote Demirtaş, the former co-leader of the HDP (the DEM Party’s predecessor). “You expose your heart so that no parent ever has to bury their child, but that kind of courage is often unappreciated.”
Demirtaş described Önder as “one of those who most deserves to see peace with his own eyes before death” and added, “You stood tall through it all. We love you, dear brother.”
As of Wednesday afternoon, the DEM Party’s press office reported that Önder’s condition was stable and that he remained under close observation in the intensive care unit. The hospital has not issued a detailed medical bulletin, but DEM Party representatives indicated that doctors were “cautiously optimistic”.
His colleagues and supporters remain hopeful for a full recovery. Sırrı Süreyya Önder’s survival and return to parliament may once again symbolise the fragility — and necessity — of dialogue in a country grappling with deep political divides.
