Anahtar Party Chairman Yavuz Ağıralioğlu paid a return visit to DEVA Party Chairman Ali Babacan at his party’s headquarters. Following a meeting between the delegations that lasted about an hour, the leaders held a one-on-one meeting and made statements to the press. Babacan thanked Ağıralioğlu for the visit.
Asked about claims that a residence or villa was being built for Öcalan, Babacan said the matter had previously been denied by the justice minister, while Devlet Bahçeli had confirmed the existence of such a structure. Stating that this contradiction should be questioned from the standpoint of state governance, Babacan called for an explanation of the legal and statutory basis and rationale for the measure, if it exists. He stressed that President Erdoğan, who appointed the minister and heads of institutions responsible for the process, should clarify the matter. He called for the public to be informed and for society’s sensitivities to be taken into account.
Ağıralioğlu, meanwhile, argued that there had been conflicting communication from the outset of the “Terror-Free Turkey” process. He said the difference between the statements made by Bahçeli and the justice minister was an example of this. Noting that the president only addressed many of the issues raised by Bahçeli 3 months later, Ağıralioğlu said Erdoğan had not made statements during the process that were as clear or as explicit in intent as Bahçeli’s. He said this could be a communication strategy or the preferred method of governance, adding that the state’s historical sensitivities and the price paid by the nation must be respected.
Why it matters
The meeting highlights not only the diplomatic contact between the two opposition parties but also their shared scrutiny of state communication during the “Terror-Free Turkey” process. Babacan and Ağıralioğlu’s emphasis on different aspects of the same contradiction shifts the debate beyond whether housing was built for Öcalan, focusing instead on the legal basis for the decisions and which institutions were responsible for them. This approach raises the obligation of political and administrative authorities whose statements are inconsistent with one another to be accountable to the public. The main unresolved issue is how the discrepancy between the justice minister and Bahçeli will be explained and what information President Erdoğan will share about the practices implemented during the process.
Background
The chairman is not a new name in the FikirPilot archive: over the past 90 days, we have published 11 news stories mentioning this name; the most recent is dated September 13, 2026.