Deputy Parliament Speaker Sırrı Süreyya Önder is in critical condition after suffering a heart attack last week, his doctors said Monday.
The right side of Önder’s heart has, although not completely, still begun contracting, a statement from the hospital Önder is in said.
The 62-year-old politician’s life remains at risk on the sixth day after the first surgery he underwent for a heart attack and a ruptured aorta.
Önder remains in intensive care, but he has been unconscious since he was hospitalized.
“His reflexes are still not at the desired level. Concerns persist regarding his neurological functions due to a transcranial doppler in the brain’s blood flow,” the doctors said.
“We have to keep waiting patiently,” they added.
Get-well-soon wishes have poured in for Önder, who also enjoyed celebrity status as a filmmaker, TV personality and columnist before fully embarking upon a political career.
A lawmaker for the People’s Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), he was part of a delegation involved in the “terror-free Türkiye” initiative.
The DEM Party, associated with the PKK terrorist group, worked as a part of the process and as a messenger of the leader of the terrorist group, Abdullah Öcalan, to call the terrorist group to dissolve itself. Önder and fellow lawmaker Pervin Buldan were expected to discuss how the initiative would move forward with Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç in a now-canceled meeting.
During a visit to Önder, Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz praised Önder for his “significant contribution” to the initiative and thanked him for his efforts.
On the question of whether Önder’s situation would affect the initiative, Yılmaz said the initiative was “beyond persons” and moved with “political will.”
“The initiative will not remain stalled,” he assured.