Prominent nationalist figures expected to join AK Party
Following the announcement of the caretaker Cabinet list on Friday afternoon, sources in Ankara have reported that the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Ankara Deputy Tuğrul Türkeş as well as former MHP Iğdır Deputy Sinan Oğan, who was expelled from the party due to criticizing the party leadership and citing a possible poor performance in snap elections, will be announced as deputy candidates for the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) in the Nov. 1 elections. In addition, it has further been indicated that Yalçın Topçu, who had resigned from the Grand Unity Party (BBP) due to discomfort with the party's policies following the Dec. 17 and Dec. 25, 2013 operations allegedly orchestrated by the controversial Gülen Movement to purportedly overthrow the government, is another figure rumored to be a deputy candidate for the AK Party.
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, who had described the recently introduced caretaker government as a concrete step for going to early elections, had previously thanked Türkeş for accepting his offer to take part in the caretaker Cabinet. However, Türkeş's move not only caused disputes within the MHP, but also crumbled MHP Chairman Devlet Bahçeli's strategy aiming to alienate the AK Party. Though Türkeş is considered an influential figure among Turkish nationalists, after the death of his father, Alparslan Türkeş, who is the founder of the MHP, he became a candidate for MHP chairman against Bahçeli in 1997, bust lost to Bahçeli.
As it has been reported that the AK Party aims to reach out to MHP deputies and has further been claimed that Topçu is another figure that is expected to take a seat with the AK Party during the early elections on Nov. 1. Following the suspicious death of Muhsin Yazıcıoğlu, who was the former leader of the BBP and died in a dubious helicopter crash in 2009 while traveling from the southern province of Kahramanmaraş to Yozgat in central Turkey, Topçu had performed the chairman position in the BBP. Prior to the establishment of the BBP in 1993, Topçu had served as a deputy for the MHP. As he served as one of the founding members of the BBP, in 2007 Yazıcıoğlu appointed him as the general secretary of the party.
Oğan, is a Turkish politician of Azerbaijani descent who obtained his education from Marmara University and is currently the president of the Ankara-based think-tank International Relations and Strategic Research Center (TÜRKSAM).
Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, who had described the recently introduced caretaker government as a concrete step for going to early elections, had previously thanked Türkeş for accepting his offer to take part in the caretaker Cabinet. However, Türkeş's move not only caused disputes within the MHP, but also crumbled MHP Chairman Devlet Bahçeli's strategy aiming to alienate the AK Party. Though Türkeş is considered an influential figure among Turkish nationalists, after the death of his father, Alparslan Türkeş, who is the founder of the MHP, he became a candidate for MHP chairman against Bahçeli in 1997, bust lost to Bahçeli.
As it has been reported that the AK Party aims to reach out to MHP deputies and has further been claimed that Topçu is another figure that is expected to take a seat with the AK Party during the early elections on Nov. 1. Following the suspicious death of Muhsin Yazıcıoğlu, who was the former leader of the BBP and died in a dubious helicopter crash in 2009 while traveling from the southern province of Kahramanmaraş to Yozgat in central Turkey, Topçu had performed the chairman position in the BBP. Prior to the establishment of the BBP in 1993, Topçu had served as a deputy for the MHP. As he served as one of the founding members of the BBP, in 2007 Yazıcıoğlu appointed him as the general secretary of the party.
Oğan, is a Turkish politician of Azerbaijani descent who obtained his education from Marmara University and is currently the president of the Ankara-based think-tank International Relations and Strategic Research Center (TÜRKSAM).
Last Update: August 29, 2015 01:37