Ertuğrul Kürkçü, a seasoned socialist and former politician of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), paid a moving tribute on Thursday to Sırrı Süreyya Önder, a lawmaker clinging to life in intensive care after suffering a heart attack on Tuesday 15 April. Önder, a member of the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party and Deputy Speaker of Turkey’s Parliament, has shown slight improvement but remains in critical condition.
In a reflective post on X, Kürkçü lauded Önder’s tireless work to foster peace in Turkey, particularly in the Kurdish-majority southeast, where conflict between the Turkish state and Kurdish groups has spanned decades. He portrayed Önder as a filmmaker-turned-politician whose life has become “a panoramic epic”, bridging divides across Turkey’s fractured society. “Sırrı placed his life’s camera right in the middle, between everyone and everything,” Kürkçü wrote, emphasising Önder’s role as a mediator engaging with both allies and adversaries.
Kürkçü and Önder’s paths converged when they moved from the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) to the HDP in 2013 to promote the Peoples’ Democratic Congress, a coalition advocating for Kurdish rights and social justice. Önder’s peace efforts included mediating a family feud in southeast Turkey last year alongside Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç and preparing for further talks before his hospitalisation halted plans.
Kürkçü also highlighted Önder’s unrealised ambition to create unforgettable films, noting that his commitment to peace often eclipsed this dream. Önder navigated “violence, deceit, lies, hypocrisy, bloodlust” to maintain dialogue, earning respect from diverse figures, from state officials to marginalised communities, Kürkçü said. This legacy, he argued, marks Önder as a singular figure in Turkish politics.
The DEM Party has not commented on Önder’s health but confirmed the postponement of his meeting with Tunç. As Önder battles for recovery, Kürkçü voiced hope that doctors would “weave their own masterpiece” to restore him to health.
Below is the English translation of Ertuğrul Kürkçü’s post on X from Thursday 17 April.
Sırrı Süreyya Önder has overcome what seemed like the toughest hurdle. After hearing from his doctors that he’s still climbing back to life, we can all take a deep breath together. “He’s not out of danger yet,” they say, but life goes on. And since Sırrı has always lived under the shadow of mortal risk, believing his body will keep carrying him isn’t just wishful thinking.
From what I know of him—and I doubt anyone but Sırrı himself could fully grasp the kaleidoscopic spirit he carries—the one thing he truly wanted, just for himself, was to be a director of unforgettable films. The only thing standing in his way, the one obstacle he could never quite conquer, was the social mission he took on: “peacebuilding.”
This meant stepping into the heart of every conflict, throwing himself in front of bullets fired from both sides, standing in the crosshairs of war’s every form and tool—violence, deceit, lies, hypocrisy, bloodlust. To do this without being destroyed, he had to move in orbits that kept just the right distance from it all. It meant staying open to dialogue with every adversary, knowing that those sworn to drink the blood of their enemies would always view his ties to “the other side” with suspicion—and choosing to ignore that. It meant so much more, too—all of it costing time, effort, energy, heartache, frustration and precious little joy or love.
I never got the chance to ask Sırrı when he realised the impossible gap between the life of a lone “peacebuilder” and the filmmaker he wanted to be—or if he ever fully grasped it at all. But at some point, I believe he decided that if he couldn’t live a life making fictional films drawn from reality, he’d pour his talent, experience, wit, and instincts into turning his own life into a masterpiece, with himself as the sole director.
Looking back at the three days since we faced the possibility of losing him, I see everyone whose life Sırrı touched, whose conflicts he stepped into, passing before the camera to play the roles they’ve chosen in his masterpiece. For the first time, I truly believe he’s earned the title of an unforgettable filmmaker. In all his years making cinema, he never quite overcame the practical and emotional barriers to creating a true masterpiece. But over the last fifteen years, through his self-appointed role as a peacebuilder, he’s crafted a panoramic epic—a stage as vast as the entire country, with players ranging from heads of state to an orphaned Kurdish child. We have to acknowledge that.
The secret lies in where Sırrı placed his life’s camera: right in the middle, between everyone and everything, never limiting the roles anyone chose in this epic. From a president who never stops vowing to “eliminate the last terrorist” to a singer you couldn’t imagine harming a fly; from media moguls who, for fifteen years, smeared everything Sırrı stood for—including peace—without shame, to the sons and daughters of disappeared revolutionaries whose only personal dream is a grave for their fathers; from unionists fighting for equality and justice to fame-chasing tycoons; from lifelong nationalists who once vowed to crush communism and now cling to Sırrı’s cause for “survival,” to internationalist revolutionaries paving the road to communism—and so many others. None of them doubt the value of Sırrı’s work—his life, his struggle. They embrace their roles and play them with heart. If that’s not a singular masterpiece, what is?
But it’s a two-way street. Now, the task of creating a masterpiece falls to Sırrı’s doctors. We hope they’ll weave their own masterpiece, delicately repairing his near-irreparable heart and returning a biologically rebuilt Sırrı Süreyya Önder to those who love him. Then it’ll be time to edit the masterpiece…
