“I insist on my proposal,” Devlet Bahçeli said on Tuesday as he addressed his Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) lawmakers at the Parliament. His “proposal” has been the main issue of Türkiye since the MHP leader unexpectedly called last month for the release of Abdullah Öcalan, jailed leader of the terrorist group PKK, on the condition that he will speak at the Parliament and call members of the group to lay down arms and surrender.
Bahçeli has always been a fervent supporter of the counterterrorism efforts of the government he aligned with under the People’s Alliance led by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party). His remarks faced backlash from far-right circles who claimed Bahçeli was no longer a nationalist while the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) voiced reluctant support for Bahçeli on the matter. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was supportive of Bahçeli and termed his call as a historic window of opportunity to resolve the decades-long problem of terrorism by the PKK.
The MHP leader was more hawkish on Tuesday, pledging the highest support to counterterrorism. “Terrorism will be eradicated. We are united on this front; we are united with our Kurdish brothers,” he said, referring to the community the PKK claims to fight for. “If the terrorist leader would announce the dissolution of the PKK, he should come to the Parliament, to a Parliamentary group meeting of DEM and do so,” he said, in reference to a political party associated with the PKK. “Mark my words. The fight against terrorism should continue, but we should also find compromise in politics. No entity can come between our unity with our Kurdish brothers,” he said.
Bahçeli, who recently shook hands with lawmakers of the DEM Party at the Parliament in another unexpected turn of events for a nationalist leader, called the party to “make up its mind and abandon its approach fluctuating between support for terrorism and politics. “They should demonstrate where they stand now and clarify whether they will separate themselves from terrorism,” he said.
He also commented on the arrest of a mayor linked to the PKK and the sacking of three others for conviction in offenses related to support of the terrorist group in one municipality run by the CHP and three others run by the DEM. Bahçeli said nobody was above the law and mayors were only temporarily sacked as the legal process was still underway. “They have to be patient,” he said while lashing out at CHP. “CHP is uncompromising and provocative and attempts to undermine the atmosphere of brotherhood,” Bahçeli said, referring to rallies by the opposition party to protest the appointment of trustees to the municipalities.
Ekrem Imamoğlu, mayor of CHP-run Istanbul who also heads a union of municipalities, has started visits to political party leaders to remove trustee appointments. Imamoğlu also sought to meet Bahçeli. Bahçeli told reporters after his speech on Tuesday that he does not consider meeting Imamoğlu. “I don’t like his politics. I believe they will exploit such a meeting and try to align MHP with a place we do not want to be. We have to be careful,” he said.
Bahçeli also reiterated MHP’s adherence to the People’s Alliance and how they wanted to see Erdoğan as president again. He stated that a constitutional amendment should be considered to allow the president to run again in elections set for 2028.
After his re-election last year, Erdoğan is serving his last term as president unless Parliament calls an early election, according to the constitution.
"Wouldn't it be a natural and right choice to have our president elected once again if terror is eradicated and if a heavy blow is dealt to inflation and Türkiye?" said Bahçeli.
Another Erdoğan term is possible through a constitutional change that can be put to a referendum. It will need the approval of 360 lawmakers in the Parliament, where the AK Party has 265, and MHP has 50 seats.
