Speaking at a news conference on Sunday, Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli urged the opposition bloc to support President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the upcoming elections.
Bahçeli called the bloc of “table for six” to open a new chapter in the “democratic struggle you cannot win and are not ready.” He was speaking at the end of a series of meetings with his party’s members in the Ankara capital to assess elections preparations.
The MHP is the primary ally of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and earlier announced that they would endorse Erdoğan as the only candidate of their alliance.
“It is obvious that you cannot carry this burden. Therefore, you should give it up and support Türkiye. Hear the Turkish nation’s voice and show the world the miracle of the Turks, the miracle of Türkiye. Nominate your candidates for Parliament but for a presidential candidate, support President Erdoğan so that we can bring the Turkish nation’s might to the new century of the Republic of Türkiye,” he said to the centenary of the republic. “Claim your share in this honor, and you will be rewarded,” he added.
The “Table for six” bloc has recently been under fire for the intention of some members to obtain vice president posts if their yet undetermined candidate wins the elections on the condition of the president’s consultation with the table’s members before making critical decisions. Bahçeli said the “table” has been “a mess,” and each party was pursuing its interest and hidden agenda. “They disclosed their desire and searched for a president under the yoke of the table. Then, they claim that they would run Türkiye with some council, which is not very unlike past junta administrations,” Bahçeli said. “It is sheer ignorance of democracy and the nation’s will to say that a president who will be elected with a vote of more than 50% will have the same authority with a party that will only garner less than 1% of the vote,” he added.
