Speaking at a press conference held at party headquarters on Tuesday, Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Chairman Devlet Bahçeli ruled out any stance that conflates the PKK terrorist organization and Kurds, saying, "Our brothers and sisters of Kurdish origin are inseparable members of our nation."
Advising people against falling into a trap on the issue, Bahçeli said: "Putting the PKK and our Kurdish brothers and sisters in the same equation means plain suicide, which is the goal of the terrorist organization and the disgusting phase it wants to attain. Leveling the PKK and our Kurdish brothers and sisters is a trap that plants dynamite under Turkey. No prudent citizen will give credit to this trap."
Bahçeli also claimed public perception management and disinformation attempts will not be successful in putting a dent in the notion of brotherhood between Turks and Kurds across Turkey and added that the country is determined and unified on the issue.
When asked about the curfews imposed in Cizre in Şırnak province that lasted almost 10 days, Bahçeli expressed his full support for the operations and argued that a tremendous responsibility falls on the shoulders of security forces.
Ambiguous on snap elections
Upon a question about whether he would continue his negative position on a coalition government should no party acquire a parliamentary majority in the Nov.1 elections, Bahçeli said, "We'll see on Nov. 1."Bahçeli also did not speak about a possible alliance with another party for the Nov. 1 elections, saying: "Our candidate list will be submitted to the Supreme Election Board [YSK] on Sept. 17. There is no sense in talking about it in this narrow period."
While sources close to the MHP do not expect to see a big change in the candidate list, it still remains a question as to who will replace expelled Deputy Tuğrul Türkeş, the son of MHP founder Alparslan Türkeş.
Interim Deputy Prime Minister Türkeş was expelled from the MHP after he accepted an offer from Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu to join the caretaker government. Türkeş has been trying to cope with heavy pressure coming from all quarters of the MHP.
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