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Erdoğan joins backlash as Özel’s Stockholm syndrome remark sparks dispute with pro-Kurdish party
03.12.2025
By Turkish Minute
Source: https://www.turkishminute.com/2025/12/03/erdogan-joins-backlash-as-ozels-stockholm-syndrome-remark-sparks-dispute-with-pro-kurdish-party/
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has joined the political backlash against main opposition leader Özgür Özel after a reference he made to the “Stockholm syndrome” triggered a sharp dispute with the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party).
Erdoğan entered the debate during a parliamentary group meeting of his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) on Wednesday, attacking Özel’s use of the term.
“If he wants to see an executioner, he should look in the mirror and at his own party’s history,” Erdoğan said, accusing Özel’s Republican People’s Party (CHP) of past injustices against Kurds.
“My Kurdish brothers know very well who the executioner is and who the victim is,” he said, referring to the injustices suffered by Kurds in the early years of the Turkish Republic.
The controversy began at the secon day of the CHP’s 39th Ordinary Congress in Ankara on November 29, where Özel urged everyone to question the democratic credentials of politicians who are notorious for their anti-democratic actions and words in the recent past.
“I invite everyone to remember the democratic credentials of those who call for banning political parties or even shutting down the Constitutional Court,” he said, implying earlier calls from Turkey’s far-right leader, Devlet Bahçeli, who called for the closure of pro-Kurdish parties due to their alleged links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
Bahçeli is currently the strongest supporter of ongoing peace talks with the PKK that began with an unexpected call from him in October 2024 and is supported by the DEM Party in a bid to end the decades-long conflict with the militant group.
Özel then warned against “falling into a Stockholm syndrome, falling in love with the executioner from whom you barely escaped,” comments that DEM Party members interpreted as a veiled attack on them due to the party’s ongoing dialogue with Bahçeli, the leader of the far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and his ally President Erdoğan.
Stockholm syndrome describes a psychological effect in which victims of incidents such as hostage situations develop positive emotional feelings toward their captors. These feelings can range from simple sympathy to cooperation and, in extreme cases, even to a sense of love for the perpetrator.
The term originates from a hostage-taking that occurred in August 1973 in the Swedish capital of Stockholm.
The DEM Party was outraged by Özel’s remarks.
The harshest reaction came from party Co-chair Tülay Hatimoğulları, who described Özel’s metaphors as profoundly misguided.
“Using terms like ‘falling in love with one’s executioner’ or ‘Stockholm Syndrome’ to describe us is, at best, an intellectual collapse. We represent a revolutionary, socialist and patriotic tradition that has resisted oppression for generations. We know very well who the executioner is,” she said.
Her response immediately prompted Özel to issue a clarification.
Özel later told journalists he had not been referring to the DEM Party and said he regretted that DEM Party politicians felt targeted. He insisted the remark was part of a broader critique of Turkey’s history of party closures, not aimed at any specific group.
Still, DEM Party officials say the controversy has caused significant anger among their grassroots supporters, who were already frustrated by the CHP’s decision not to nominate a representative for a recent delegation that visited jailed PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan on İmralı Island as part of the ongoing peace talks.
The CHP has issued a series of clarifications in an effort to contain the controversy. CHP parliamentary group deputy chairman Ali Mahir Başarır said Özel’s comments had nothing to do with the DEM Party or the peace process but were instead a reminder that citizens should not display unwavering loyalty to any political party at a time of widespread poverty, the government’s taking over the administration of opposition municipalities by replacing democratically elected mayors with trustees and the imprisonment of opponents on politically motivated charges.
The CHP supports the peace talks with the PKK, and its members are taking part in a parliamentary commission established last August to move the peace process further after the PKK announced its decision last May to lay down its arms and to disband.
However, the party criticizes the government’s handling of the process, accusing it of seeking political advantage while avoiding accountability.
Since Öcalan’s arrest in 1999, there have been various attempts to end the bloodshed that erupted in 1984 and has cost more than 40,000 lives. The last round of talks collapsed in a storm of violence in 2015.
Meanwhile, Özel issued a sharp response to Erdoğan later on Wednesday, recalling one of the most traumatic incidents during curfews in the country’s southeast in 2015.
Referring to the killing of a Kurdish woman named Taybet İnan, whose body was left lying in the street for seven days in Silopi district of Şırnak after she was shot by security forces, he said, “Ten years ago, under your government, Mother Taybet’s body remained on the ground for seven days. You will pretend not to remember that women who walked toward her with a white flag to prevent her body from decomposing were fired upon.”
The Turkish government imposed curfews in dozens of towns and districts between July 2015 and February 2017 to drive out PKK militants from urban areas. Rights groups said at the time that the operations trapped thousands of residents in their homes and led to widespread abuses, including civilian deaths.
İnan, 57, was shot on December 19, 2015, in front of her home. The woman, who was the mother of nine, was laid to rest 23 days after her death. Only three family members were allowed to attend her funeral due to government-imposed restrictions at the time.
Her family took the case to the Constitutional Court in January 2021, citing violations of the right to life and two other violations due to the lack of an effective investigation into her murder and the treatment of her body afterward.
The court rejected the claim that the government had violated the right to life and the other allegations on the grounds that the application was not filed within the legal time limit.
03.12.2025
By Turkish Minute
Source: https://www.turkishminute.com/2025/12/03/erdogan-
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has joined the political backlash against main opposition leader Özgür Özel after a reference he made to the “Stockholm syndrome” triggered a sharp dispute with the pro-
Erdoğan entered the debate during a parliamentary group meeting of his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) on Wednesday, attacking Özel’s use of the term.
“If he wants to see an executioner, he should look in the mirror and at his own party’s history,” Erdoğan said, accusing Özel’s Republican People’s Party (CHP) of past injustices against Kurds.
“My Kurdish brothers know very well who the executioner is and who the victim is,” he said, referring to the injustices suffered by Kurds in the early years of the Turkish Republic.
The controversy began at the secon day of the CHP’s 39th Ordinary Congress in Ankara on November 29, where Özel urged everyone to question the democratic credentials of politicians who are notorious for their anti-
“I invite everyone to remember the democratic credentials of those who call for banning political parties or even shutting down the Constitutional Court,” he said, implying earlier calls from Turkey’s far-
Bahçeli is currently the strongest supporter of ongoing peace talks with the PKK that began with an unexpected call from him in October 2024 and is supported by the DEM Party in a bid to end the decades-
Özel then warned against “falling into a Stockholm syndrome, falling in love with the executioner from whom you barely escaped,” comments that DEM Party members interpreted as a veiled attack on them due to the party’s ongoing dialogue with Bahçeli, the leader of the far-
Stockholm syndrome describes a psychological effect in which victims of incidents such as hostage situations develop positive emotional feelings toward their captors. These feelings can range from simple sympathy to cooperation and, in extreme cases, even to a sense of love for the perpetrator.
The term originates from a hostage-
The DEM Party was outraged by Özel’s remarks.
The harshest reaction came from party Co-
“Using terms like ‘falling in love with one’s executioner’ or ‘Stockholm Syndrome’ to describe us is, at best, an intellectual collapse. We represent a revolutionary, socialist and patriotic tradition that has resisted oppression for generations. We know very well who the executioner is,” she said.
Her response immediately prompted Özel to issue a clarification.
Özel later told journalists he had not been referring to the DEM Party and said he regretted that DEM Party politicians felt targeted. He insisted the remark was part of a broader critique of Turkey’s history of party closures, not aimed at any specific group.
Still, DEM Party officials say the controversy has caused significant anger among their grassroots supporters, who were already frustrated by the CHP’s decision not to nominate a representative for a recent delegation that visited jailed PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan on İmralı Island as part of the ongoing peace talks.
The CHP has issued a series of clarifications in an effort to contain the controversy. CHP parliamentary group deputy chairman Ali Mahir Başarır said Özel’s comments had nothing to do with the DEM Party or the peace process but were instead a reminder that citizens should not display unwavering loyalty to any political party at a time of widespread poverty, the government’s taking over the administration of opposition municipalities by replacing democratically elected mayors with trustees and the imprisonment of opponents on politically motivated charges.
The CHP supports the peace talks with the PKK, and its members are taking part in a parliamentary commission established last August to move the peace process further after the PKK announced its decision last May to lay down its arms and to disband.
However, the party criticizes the government’s handling of the process, accusing it of seeking political advantage while avoiding accountability.
Since Öcalan’s arrest in 1999, there have been various attempts to end the bloodshed that erupted in 1984 and has cost more than 40,000 lives. The last round of talks collapsed in a storm of violence in 2015.
Meanwhile, Özel issued a sharp response to Erdoğan later on Wednesday, recalling one of the most traumatic incidents during curfews in the country’s southeast in 2015.
Referring to the killing of a Kurdish woman named Taybet İnan, whose body was left lying in the street for seven days in Silopi district of Şırnak after she was shot by security forces, he said, “Ten years ago, under your government, Mother Taybet’s body remained on the ground for seven days. You will pretend not to remember that women who walked toward her with a white flag to prevent her body from decomposing were fired upon.”
The Turkish government imposed curfews in dozens of towns and districts between July 2015 and February 2017 to drive out PKK militants from urban areas. Rights groups said at the time that the operations trapped thousands of residents in their homes and led to widespread abuses, including civilian deaths.
İnan, 57, was shot on December 19, 2015, in front of her home. The woman, who was the mother of nine, was laid to rest 23 days after her death. Only three family members were allowed to attend her funeral due to government-
Her family took the case to the Constitutional Court in January 2021, citing violations of the right to life and two other violations due to the lack of an effective investigation into her murder and the treatment of her body afterward.
The court rejected the claim that the government had violated the right to life and the other allegations on the grounds that the application was not filed within the legal time limit.