Doctors attending to Deputy Parliament Speaker Sırrı Süreyya Önder, who was hospitalized Tuesday after a heart attack, said his situation improved slightly on Thursday, but he will remain in intensive care.
Önder has a history of ailments and has suffered from a pancreatic tumor and brain clotting in the past. The hospital in Istanbul where he is being treated issued a statement on Thursday, saying that Önder was “responding” to the treatment and his health parameters were improving. Doctors stated that it would be a long process for him, and they had to “wait for longer” for full recovery.
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.
Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz was among his visitors at the hospital on Thursday. Yılmaz told reporters that they had “good news” about the state of Önder.
“It is not over yet, but we are assured that the best health care staff are assigned to help his recovery,” Yılmaz said.
Yılmaz, who famously mediated a notorious family feud in the southeast last year in cooperation with Önder, said that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan closely followed the developments about Önder’s health through his physician and the health minister.
“Mr. Sırrı has a different view of the world, but he has a personality that can build bridges between people of vastly different opinions with a human-oriented politics. He made significant contributions to Turkish politics. We know how he lived and how resistant he has been. We heartily believe he will resist again and recover. We pray for him,” Yılmaz said.
Yılmaz, who talked to Önder’s daughter Ceren Önder Kandemir, said they hoped he would recover swiftly.
Önder was scheduled to meet Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç on Friday, and officials announced that the meeting has been postponed. 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 Tunç.
Yılmaz said Önder had a significant contribution to the initiative and thanked him. 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.