MHP Leader Bahçeli calls on PKK leader Öcalan to address parliament

MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli made striking statements in his speech at his party's group meeting in the Parliament. In the last part of his speech to the group, which he began by saying 'I will speak from the middle of the book', Bahçeli, who recalled the remarks he made last week about PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan, went a step further this time and used the following expressions:

"If the isolation of the terrorist leader is lifted, let him come and speak at the meeting of the DEM party group in the Parliament. Let him shout that terrorism is completely over and the organisation has been dissolved. If he shows this resilience and determination, the way should be opened wide for the legal arrangement on the use of the 'right to hope' and for him to benefit from it.

This is the first time that such explicit statements in favour of lifting the isolation of Abdullah Ocalan have been made from the floor of the parliament, with the exception of the representatives of the Kurdish movement.

Bahçeli's use of the term 'right to hope' also attracted attention. The 'right to hope', a concept that includes the possibility of parole for prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment for the rest of their lives, has long been expressed by the Kurdish movement and Öcalan's lawyers.

DEM PARTY: ISOLATION MUST BE LIFTED

DEM Party co-chair Tülay Hatimoğulları responded to Bahçeli's statement: "The interlocutor for peace in the Middle East and in Turkey is Abdullah Öcalan, who is severely isolated in İmralı. The place for the solution of the Kurdish problem is the parliament. If there is to be a start, the isolation must be lifted immediately. We are not begging anyone for a solution. We are ready to take the initiative for an honourable peace.

CHP: WHATEVER NEEDS TO BE DONE MUST BE DONE IN PARLIAMENT

CHP leader Özgür Özel: 'An approach that throws out the actors that do not suit you smacks of a plan to solve only Erdoğan's problem. Whatever needs to be done must be done in parliament. It should be done with transparency. Let's make the Kurds, who do not feel that they belong to the state, the owners of a Republic of Turkey in which they do not feel different. As a founding party, we propose to do this together.

EMEP: CONCRETE STEPS MUST BE TAKEN

It is obvious that we are facing a new political operation of the People's Alliance with the propaganda of survival and prevention of division,' said İskender Bayhan, an İstanbul MP from the Labour Party (EMEP), pointing out that no concrete steps have been taken yet. Bayhan called for the end of military operations, the lifting of the isolation, the declaration of a political amnesty and the necessary preparations in parliament for a solution. (EVRENSEL DAILY)