Turkish Nationalist Leader Ümit Özdağ Calls for Boycott of Imrali Peace Commission

Ümit Özdağ, chairman of the Victory Party, has issued a strong warning to opposition parties, urging them not to participate in a newly proposed parliamentary commission that would oversee negotiations with PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan. Özdağ framed the commission as a threat to the unitary structure of the Turkish Republic and announced a nationwide campaign to resist it.

Closed-Door Talks Spark Controversy

Following a closed-door meeting in the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TBMM), Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş consulted with party leaders about forming a parliamentary commission as part of renewed efforts in the Imrali peace process. The İYİ (Good) Party quickly announced it would not send any members to the commission. A written statement released on TBMM’s official social media accounts described the meeting as a consultative step regarding the commission’s possible structure and function.

Özdağ Issues Four-Point Opposition Plan

Victory Party (Zafer Partisi) leader Ümit Özdağ took to social media with a detailed call to action, outlining four reasons why all opposition parties, including the Republican People’s Party (CHP), should reject participation in the proposed commission:

“A commission is being formed in the Turkish Parliament as part of the negotiation process initiated with Abdullah Öcalan and the PKK. The Victory Party firmly believes that no opposition party, including CHP, should take part in this body,” Özdağ wrote.

His four key objections are:

1. Legitimization of the Negotiations: Participation would grant political legitimacy to the ongoing negotiation process between the AKP, MHP, the pro-Kurdish DEM Party, and PKK leader Öcalan.

2. Symbolic Recognition of the PKK: Having Öcalan and the PKK treated as negotiating counterparts by the Grand National Assembly—originally established to found the Turkish Republic—would amount to symbolic recognition of the group.

3. Enabling PKK Demands: Özdağ claims the commission will serve as a platform to validate and implement PKK demands under the guise of parliamentary dialogue.

4. Legal Reforms and National Disintegration: He warns that the commission will go beyond discussions to implement legal changes that could grant amnesty to the PKK, legalize its political activities, and pave the way for constitutional reforms that dismantle Turkey’s unitary nation-state structure.

“A Crime Against the Republic”

“This commission would mean the Turkish Parliament—founded on April 23, 1920 to establish the Republic—is now being used to dismantle it,” Özdağ declared. He emphasized that any opposition party participating would be complicit in what he termed “a crime against the Republic of Turkey.”

Launching a Nationwide Resistance Campaign

Özdağ announced that the Victory Party will launch a nationwide campaign to explain what he believes are the dangers of the new peace process. “Together with other national opposition forces that reject this commission, we will organize town halls, panel discussions, and rallies across the country—from villages to city squares,” he said.

The campaign will also include an intense media effort: “We’ll take to television and social media to warn the public about the catastrophe that awaits Turkey if negotiations with the PKK proceed.”

Turkish press sources

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