Following the death of Sırrı Süreyya Önder, deputy for Istanbul and Deputy Speaker of the Turkish Parliament from the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), his funeral was held on May 4 in Istanbul with a large ceremony and a march. Thousands declared, “Our promise to Sırrı will be peace.” Co-chairs and members of parliament from the DEM Party have been receiving condolences alongside Önder’s family at the Cemal Reşit Rey Concert Hall in Istanbul since the day of his passing. Önder’s comrades and longtime friends spoke to ANF about his legacy.

Even in his departure, he accomplished something extraordinary

Meral Danış Beştaş, Co-Spokesperson of the Peoples’ Democratic Congress (HDK), said: “He showed all of Turkey and the world just how strong and widespread the demand and embrace for peace truly is. How fortunate he was. Even in his departure, he accomplished something extraordinary. I did not leave his side during the last three days he spent in the hospital. What I saw was this: our hearts are breaking, we are deeply saddened, but right now there is mourning in millions of homes. We can see it. The grief is not only here, not only in Istanbul. People are mourning as though they have lost one of their own. He touched so many lives. In recent months, we were working hard together to build dialogue, to visit Imralı, and to make the demand for peace resonate throughout society. His passing is, of course, an immense sorrow. But the way people have come together around him shows that Turkey is, in fact, ready for peace. That is something truly important and precious. We all have a duty to realize the peace he worked so hard for. It has always been a great responsibility for all of us, but now more than ever it requires the effort of everyone, of every group, of every difference.”

We will draw strength from his struggle

Sezai Temelli, parliamentary group chair and MP for Muş from the DEM Party, said: “We are here today at the Cemal Reşit Rey Concert Hall, receiving condolences for our beloved comrade, our representative, Sırrı Süreyya Önder. He was bid farewell with incredible public participation and the presence of people from all across Turkey and every shade of the political spectrum. Throughout the entire procession, one word was on everyone’s lips: peace. As they said goodbye to this ambassador of peace, they declared, ‘Our promise is peace.’ His memory and his struggle were embraced. This is the legacy he leaves to the peoples of Turkey, a struggle for peace. As you know, on February 27, the call made by Abdullah Öcalan marked a historic turning point. It was perhaps the most significant step of this great transformation. The person who gave voice to that call and brought it to the people was none other than Sırrı Süreyya Önder. Carrying out the mission of that call is now our shared responsibility. Just as we have fought for this cause so far, we will continue our efforts to build peace, to organize a democratic society, and to realize a profound transformation. Of course, it is impossible to replace someone like Sırrı Süreyya Önder. We make no such claim. But we will feel his presence beside us. We will draw strength from his memories and his struggle, and we will continue walking this path.”

Our duty is to carry on his mission

Sezgin Tanrıkulu, MP for Diyarbakır from the Republican People’s Party (CHP), said: “Sırrı was a friend, a companion to me personally, but more than that, he was a crucial political figure when it comes to Turkey’s Kurdish question and the pursuit of peace in this country. He had taken on a clear mission, one that he carried with great determination beginning in 2011, especially in 2013 and 2015. Unfortunately, that process did not succeed. After 2015, Turkey descended into a more violent phase. In the new process that began on October 1, the trust Sırrı had built became a central pillar. We know that in conflict resolution, the role of key actors is essential. First and foremost, those actors must be trusted by their own political movements and communities. But even more importantly, they must be trusted by their political counterparts.

Sırrı had instilled deep trust and belief within the ranks of his own political movement through his accumulated experience, but what was even more remarkable was that he had earned the trust of his political adversaries. Those who once saw him as an enemy, who harbored hatred, came to believe in him. That kind of trust plays a vital role in resolving conflict and he carried it with great skill. We know Turkey’s recent history. Sırrı came from a political background, and from a young age, he understood both the non-negotiables of his own movement and those of the state. He was a friend who knew, when speaking with state officials or political interlocutors, exactly what should be said, what should be left unsaid, and how much to express. Sadly, we have lost him. What remains for us now is the duty to carry on and complete his mission, to realize peace in Turkey. Whatever it takes to achieve this, we will do it. We will not hesitate.”

Our greatest duty to him is to socialize peace

Cengiz Çiçek, MP for Istanbul from the DEM Party, said: “The tens of thousands who attended the funeral of our beloved Sırrı Süreyya Önder once again demonstrated what truly matters in the struggle for peace, democracy, and freedom. They showed whose thinking, whose conscience, whose moral path we are following. The massive turnout was not only an expression of gratitude to Sırrı Süreyya Önder but also a direct embrace of the cause to which he dedicated his life.

As we bid farewell to our teacher, our comrade, our leader Sırrı, it felt as though he was calling on all of us, every people, every faith, to embark once again on that original journey. In a sense, he entrusted us all with this shared mission once more. The march of tens of thousands, the way they embraced his farewell, was also a clear reflection of how deeply society longs for peace, justice, and democratic values in these lands. When there is true representation, moral clarity, and a principled approach to struggle, even a single person can bring together tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, even millions in a shared spirit. In that sense, the most meaningful response we can give to our beloved Sırrı Süreyya Önder, as his comrades and fellow travelers, will be to socialize peace. To spread the idea of peace, to grow a climate of peace through collective social struggle.

The greatest gift we can now offer our comrade Sırrı will be to carry forward the social and democratic struggle that can truly establish a lasting and meaningful peace. Once again, we bow our heads in respect to his memory.”

Hope lies in the embrace of millions

Perihan Koca, MP for Mersin from the DEM Party, said: “Above all, we are deeply saddened. We are experiencing overwhelming emotions. The loss of our comrade Sırrı Süreyya Önder is a heavy blow. We have truly lost a messenger of peace, a laborer of peace. And even in his final moments, we witnessed how he gave his very body and his very flag in service of the socialization of peace. It was so clear during his final farewell. For everyone who loved him, and even for those who once cursed him, Sırrı was a fixed and undeniable presence. He had a rare and unique ability to bring together people who otherwise would never stand side by side.

For us, Sırrı Süreyya Önder was a worker for peace. The farewell, marked by massive participation from young people and women, became a collective vow: a promise to Sırrı, to our comrade, to our brother, that our word to him will be peace. These lands have long hungered for peace. We are a society that has paid an enormous price for it. From the moment Sırrı Süreyya was hospitalized, we began to witness the socialization of peace, and with his passing, a new hope was sown among us, as if he had planted the seeds of peace himself. At the same time, he placed a heavy burden on our shoulders. But the unity of millions also gives us strength. The fact that hope for peace could manifest in such a powerful presence has opened a new doorway for all of us.

I recall a quote from a 2013 article by Sibel Yerdeniz in T24. It read: ‘Life, how cruel, how shattering, how magnificent you are.’ I thought about this many times during the farewell, the remembrance, the burial. We are living the cruelty of life now, its deep and shattering reality through our loss. But when I saw the magnificent farewell and the people’s embrace of it, I found myself thinking more and more about what Sırrı Süreyya left us. That life, in all its cruelty, also carries within it the potential for magnificent beginnings. So yes, hope lies in the embrace of the millions we witnessed yesterday. With that sense of responsibility, from this day forward we will move with greater determination. We will bring to these lands the peace that he longed for but did not live to see.”

We are very close to socializing peace

Ali Bozan, MP for Mersin from the DEM Party, said: “How can we describe our brother Sırrı Süreyya Önder? I believe one of the most heartfelt descriptions came from one of our Peace Mothers. She came during the funeral ceremony and said, ‘Sırrı Süreyya Önder always fought for us.’ He used to say, ‘I struggle so that mothers do not have to cry.’ He would say, ‘I will keep fighting.’ And now, sadly, we are the ones crying for him. The mother’s words were incredibly sincere. When we look back at what happened, especially after the peace table was overturned in 2015, it is clear that Sırrı Süreyya Önder never lost his belief in peace. He continued to fight. We saw this clearly in the debates after October and in his stance during that period. The visits to the hospital while he was ill, the people who came from every corner of Turkey, and the many who began their sentences with ‘I do not share his worldview, but…’ all pointed to one thing: a shared belief in peace. It was also a testament to the relentless effort he made to achieve lasting peace in this country. Thousands, tens of thousands of people came to bid him farewell, and there was a common slogan on the lips of those who attended: ‘Our promise to Sırrı is peace.’ Those gathered were not only Kurds, not only DEM Party members. People from every political perspective were there. During his life, Sırrı made the people of this country reflect deeply. He shattered taboos. And when we consider what took place in the hospital and during the massive funeral, we can say with confidence that we are very close to socializing peace in this country. Even if millions of citizens do not share our perspective, they now say that lasting peace in this country is essential.”

He left us an extraordinary legacy

Dilan Kunt Ayan, MP for Urfa (Riha) from the DEM Party, said: “This is a tremendous loss. Sırrı had a profoundly impactful personality. He embodied what we refer to as the HDP vision that emerged after 2013. He was someone who truly stood with all the marginalized, all the excluded, those whose very identities had been denied, and he struggled to find solutions to their problems. Today we see people from all across Turkey, from different political backgrounds and faiths, coming together. This shows how widely the peace Sırrı Başkan sought to bring to these lands has been embraced. At the funeral, there were people saying, ‘I bought a plane ticket with my last money to be here. I had to be there, even if just to cast a handful of soil on his grave.’ Some of them were people who had been dismissed from their jobs, some were workers, others from the laboring classes, and some were perhaps economically well-off. But all of them shared one thing in common: they recognized the magnitude of this loss, and they had come to share in the pain. Sırrı truly left us an extraordinary legacy, and this needs to be acknowledged. This unity, this gathering of so many people from different walks of life, is his legacy. And we have a debt to him: to nurture and fulfill the legacy he left behind, to carry forward the hope for peace. We must ensure that his legacy endures.”