Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli on Tuesday harshly reacted to the protests organized by the Republican People's Party (CHP) after the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoğlu, describing the moves as aiming for chaos.
Speaking to Türkgün newspaper, Bahçeli deemed the calls for the streets as “a great uncounsciousness” and said that the media must cease making disruptive publishings. He added that media commentators must "act responsibly" and that comments that "incite society to chaos, violence or riot" constituted "a breach of both legal and moral responsibilities."
He warned that the protests are an attempt to drag Türkiye into a dangerous phase. Following Imamoğlu's arrest on corruption charges, CHP leader Özgür Özel has called for supporters to gather in streets and protest. Özel had announced that protests would be held in a different one of Türkiye’s 81 provinces every weekend and a different district of Istanbul every Wednesday.
"This call is aimed at disrupting public order because it threatens social peace," he said, and accused the CHP of "causing chaos and disorder."
Bahçeli accused the CHP of "opening a front of evil and violence against Türkiye” and underlined that, "The streets are not a solution.”
"If others stand against those invited to the streets, as they did on July 15, how will the inevitable conflict be prevented, how will the incidents be prevented?"
Bahçeli said that in situations where Türkiye is about to make a leap forward, issues such as "Alevi-Sunni, Turkish-Kurd, secular-anti-secular, military-civilian, state-nation, democracy-republic, poor-rich, worker-employer" are being used as tools to create division and social chaos.
He added that: “The opposition’s political approaches, which rely only on populist rhetoric and are far from scientific reality, have rendered the reliability of the institution of politics suspicious.”
“Thus, today’s CHP politics is far from moral principles and honesty and is based on lies and slander.”
"Chronic enemies of the People's Alliance, hopeless politicians who spread hatred and grudges on society, are revealing their intention to lay the groundwork for undemocratic pursuits with all kinds of lies and the mentality of ‘Let the People's Alliance go, if necessary, let the country burn’ on certain television channels," he added.
Bahçeli furher accused the CHP of applying to anti-democratic means whenever the party fails to make gains on the ballot. In the last general elections in 2023, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was once again chosen president, although the main opposition a year later made gains in local elections across the country.
