Bahçeli: House built for Öcalan on İmralı, but he refuses to move in over 'status'

Rastinews — Bahçeli met with journalist Nagehan Alçı at his party's headquarters and told her that a two-story house with a garden has been built for Abdullah Öcalan on İmralı Island. According to Bahçeli, Öcalan is still refusing to move in.

Office downstairs, living quarters upstairs

Alçı said the building sits inside a walled garden, part soil and part concrete. The ground floor of the two-story structure was designed as a study and office, the upper floor as living quarters.

'Because he wants status'

Asked why Öcalan refuses to move in, Bahçeli replied: "Because he wants status." He said Öcalan is waiting for the Disarmament and Strategic Coordination Subcommittee — to be set up under the Monitoring and Evaluation Board established after the framework law — to actually begin work, and for himself to take a seat on these bodies.

A request for a companion and a subcommittee

According to information Alçı gathered from state sources, Öcalan has cited his advanced age and said he does not want to live in the house alone; a request has reportedly been filed for a relative from his inner circle to stay with him as a companion. Öcalan is also said to want a secretariat, or subcommittee, formed that would include representatives from the DEM Party, figures based in Europe, and the women's movement.

Below is the full account Alçı gave of Bahçeli's remarks on the process and on Öcalan:

"As a journalist, I had the chance to meet with Mr. Devlet Bahçeli on the record. Frankly, it ran longer than I expected. He was generous with his time and offered assessments across a wide range of subjects. I came away with a clear sense of where Mr. Bahçeli stands in this peace process that began under the banner of 'Terror-Free Turkey,' and where he is coming from. First, I want to share a piece of information with you that I think readers will find striking. After that, I'll add some observations of my own."

"While we were discussing this process and Abdullah Öcalan's situation with Mr. Bahçeli, claims had been circulating that a house was being built for Abdullah Öcalan on İmralı Island. We had heard some of this ourselves, but nothing was confirmed. When I put it to Mr. Bahçeli directly, he gave me a very clear answer. He said: 'A house has been built for Abdullah Öcalan on İmralı Island. It has a garden in front and offers humane living conditions — that's my understanding. Inside, he could live something close to a normal life. A place with the comforts of a home has been built. But he is still refusing to move in.'"

'He wants to move in only after taking his seat on the boards'

"So I asked, 'Why is he refusing?' He said, 'Because he wants status.' I said, 'But it's already been settled that Abdullah Öcalan will serve on the boards set out in the framework law.' He replied, 'Yes, but he's waiting for that to actually happen. He wants to move into the house only after the boards are formed, start working, and he himself takes up his position on them.'"

"Frankly, this is striking information. I asked Mr. Bahçeli whether it could be shared publicly, and whether we had in fact been speaking on the record. He said, 'That's up to you — I have no objection, you can share it.' So I see no reason not to share it here. If anything, I consider it an important development."

Alçı: The process tends to get "infected" whenever the subject of Öcalan comes up

"Let me add my own notes here. This is an extremely sensitive process. Anyone who follows my work knows the support I've given it from the start, both as a journalist and as a citizen. Having tried to follow peace processes around the world as closely as I can, my view is this: this issue, which has now become a chronic wound in Turkey, needs to be resolved. It should have been resolved long ago. Over more than 40 years, this country has suffered a great deal. This process gives us an important opportunity. Unlike the earlier efforts that collapsed — or perhaps as a continuation of them — it has moved forward and reached a point that was never reached before."

'Öcalan needs to be part of the process for the political transition to be completed'

"But this needs to be understood: resolving this issue requires Abdullah Öcalan to be part of the process, so that the political transition can be completed as the PKK fully disbands, comes down from the mountains and hands over its weapons. Who returns from where, who takes what role — the dominant figure on all of that, the one everyone within the organization recognizes as the authority, is of course Abdullah Öcalan. So a solution has to be found on the Öcalan question."

"From what I could see, Mr. Bahçeli has been thinking about this issue for a very long time. Yesterday I saw once again that his analysis goes deep — not just on the Öcalan question, but on resolving the PKK problem and Turkey's Kurdish issue more broadly. The public was largely given the impression this all appeared out of nowhere in October 2023. In reality, Mr. Bahçeli is a politician who has worked on this subject for many years."

"Consider this: back in 2021, the MHP actually drew up a draft constitution. We still don't know its final form, but it was discussed from time to time. As I understand it, that 2021 draft was itself the product of work that was already projecting forward to today. I also noticed something else: ever since this 'Terror-Free Turkey' process began, there has been an attempt to portray a rift between President Erdoğan and Devlet Bahçeli, as if Bahçeli weren't fully on board. That isn't the case. The governing side, the People's Alliance, is united on this. Bahçeli himself has been writing and drafting on this for a long time; he even showed me his files yesterday. As I understand it, he has spent years researching the subject in depth, trying to find the right moment and the right momentum. And he believes the current regional climate is well suited for it — how Turkey is now viewed in the Middle East, and so on."

'He's waiting for the status question to be settled and put into practice'

"Now to the detail of what Mr. Bahçeli told me: the house built for Abdullah Öcalan on İmralı. He shared this with me himself. It has a garden in front, and a structure built to residential standards has been completed. Abdullah Öcalan can move in whenever he wants — but he is refusing to, because he is waiting for the status question to be settled and put into practice."

"After hearing this, I did some checking with state sources of my own. What information do they have? Looking into what else I could learn about this structure inside the prison, I can share the following with you. I'll share it without naming sources, but I can say it comes from conversations with people familiar with the matter."

'Ground floor designed as workspace, study and office; upper floor as living quarters'

"The house Mr. Bahçeli described is indeed inside the prison compound, with a garden in front. But here's the important part: the garden sits inside a walled enclosure, and as I understand it, the garden itself is also walled in. Part of the garden is soil, part is concrete — the soil section, from what I gather, in case he wants to plant something, the concrete section in case he wants to exercise. Inside is a two-story building: the ground floor is designed as a workspace, study and office, the upper floor as living quarters."

"But what I additionally learned is this: Abdullah Öcalan has a number of requests. He is reportedly saying, 'I've reached a certain age. I can't manage this house on my own. I can't run it by myself, and I don't want to be alone.' He is said to have asked for a few people from his inner circle, relatives, to stay with him as companions. I couldn't find out which relative, but I did hear that an application has been filed for one to join him. That, too, is among the information that reached me."

"Öcalan also wants the following, reportedly saying: 'Once this board is formed, a subcommittee also needs to be set up so I can carry out this work more easily.' So who would make up this subcommittee? From what I understand, nothing has been finalized. But based on my conversations with various people, what Öcalan has in mind — as I understand it — is a secretariat drawn from different segments of the Kurdish movement: for instance, from within the DEM Party, perhaps one or two figures from Europe, and names from the women's movement."

'Not the same kind of secretariat model Öcalan wants'

"I mentioned earlier that I spoke with Çetin Arkaş, one of the people who spent more than 30 years in prison. During the last resolution process, a three-person secretariat was set up for Abdullah Öcalan on İmralı, and Arkaş was one of its members. This time, that's not the model Öcalan wants. Instead, he wants a list of people coming from outside, who know the outside world and its dynamics, and who could brief him in turn — people he could exchange views with. He wants this kind of subcommittee."

"That's the situation. As far as I understand, the building currently just sits there, unused. But as I said, what matters here is explaining that this will serve society and peace. Abdullah Öcalan has brought grief to a great many households; but I believe the Turkish public needs to be told clearly why he is needed to resolve this issue."

"Let me repeat my reservation: unfortunately, once Öcalan's name comes up this often, certain circles looking to derail the process can step in. Take the yellow bags at the Amedspor match, for example — I think that was a manifestation of exactly that, and it was troubling. In such a sensitive process, I believe the DEM Party needs to act far more responsibly. Debates keep flaring up, for instance, over houses of condolence and similar matters. Now, of course, there are families whose children went missing, who learned the truth only years later, who were deceived by the organization. Remember, the Mothers of Diyarbakır waited outside for years, didn't they, to get their children back?"

"It turned out those children had lost their lives within the organization, in clashes. Once you pick up a weapon, unfortunately, what follows is already a huge question mark. While these families were waiting for their children, some of those children had already died. Now condolence visits are being held over this. On one hand, that is deeply human — put yourself in those families' place. But it shouldn't be turned into a loud political issue or headline. Doing so raises the risk of derailing a process that is, by its nature, moving over fragile ground. So I believe the DEM Party, too, needs to proceed with much more caution, sound judgment and composure, in a coordinated way that doesn't raise tensions."

"That's all I have to say on this for now. I expect we'll learn more details as things move forward. Let me say once more: after Devlet Bahçeli told me he saw no objection to sharing it, what I have reported to you here amounts to this — a house built inside the İmralı prison for Abdullah Öcalan."