Sirri Süreyya Önder, a prominent Turkish lawmaker and peace advocate, died Saturday at the age of 62, his party confirmed.
Önder, who served as the deputy speaker of Turkey’s parliament, played a significant role in efforts to end the conflict with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). He was among the politicians who recently met with jailed PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan and held talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to find a resolution to the decades-long insurgency that has claimed tens of thousands of lives.
He was hospitalized two weeks ago after suffering a heart attack and aortic rupture. Following a 12-hour surgery and 18 days in intensive care, Önder died due to multiple organ failure, according to the hospital in Istanbul where he was treated.
Önder was known for his wit, poetry, and his engaging public presence. In addition to his political career, he was an accomplished filmmaker and screenwriter, creating works that combined political themes with social critique.
A central figure in the peace process, Önder was instrumental in facilitating the PKK’s declaration of a unilateral ceasefire in March 2025, and he had previously played a key role in negotiations between the government and PKK in the past decade.
Önder was jailed in 2018 over a speech accused of “terrorist propaganda” and later faced trial in connection with the 2014 Kobani protests case, but he avoided prison due to his parliamentary immunity. He also served time in the 1980s after a military coup.
