11 detained, MHP district head dismissed over demonstration in front of İYİ Party leader’s house

ISTANBUL

MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli (L) and IYI Party leader Meral Akşener are seen in this combined image

Eleven people have been detained and all managers and the head of a district organization of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) have been fired after a controversial demonstration outside İYİ (Good) Party leader Meral Akşener’s house in Istanbul.

A group of MHP members gathered in front of her house in Istanbul’s Üsküdar district and chanted slogans late Oct. 4 hours after MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli harshly criticized Akşener.

Akşener was seen in video footage reacting to the protesters from her window, yelling “Come and shoot me if you are man enough! Shame on you!”

On Oct. 5, the Istanbul Governor’s Office launched an investigation into the incident, following an instruction from the Interior Ministry.

Eleven people were detained by the police hours after the statement over charges of "unauthorized demonstration" and "threatening."

Meanwhile, MHP Deputy Chairman Semih Yalçın announced Oct. 5 that the party’s district head and other local grassroots organization managers in Üsküdar have been fired for organizing the protest “outside of the knowledge of the headquarters" in Ankara.

Despite Akşener asking earlier to suspend security measures provided by the police, the governor’s office continues its police deployment for security outside her house and its surroundings.

The spat between the two deepened after Akşener, a former MHP MP, blamed Bahçeli for supporting the government in a deal it signed with the U.S. consultancy firm McKinsey to handle Turkey’s embattled economy. Bahçeli had slammed her back, telling her she would “suffer the consequences if she continues the attitude, which is ‘getting on my nerves.’”

In response, Akşener tweeted the address of her party’s headquarters.

The group gathered in front of her house after the latest tweet on her official account.

Akşener, a former prominent figure from the MHP, established İYİ Party with other MHP dissidents after growing opposition toward the MHP’s policies.