MHP leader calls for closure of HDP after terror attack

ANKARA

Devlet Bahçeli, the leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), has repeated his demand for the closure of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) over its alleged links to the PKK terror organization after the deadly terrorist act in Istanbul that killed six people and injured dozens.

“We don’t want to see separatists in the parliament. We cannot stand seeing terrorists. We cannot tolerate for even a second that the HDP, which recruits terrorists and strains our patience with so-called Kurdistan propaganda, takes part in Turkish politics,” Bahçeli said in his address to his parliamentary group on Nov. 15.

Bahçeli referred to an ongoing case seen at the Constitutional Court against the HDP that seeks the banning of the political party and its top officials over its links with the terrorist organization.

The MHP leader also criticized the Republican People’s Party (CHP) and called on the main opposition to put a distance between itself and terror. “I call on the CHP management to distance themselves from the terror. The CHP and the HDP are no different,” he stated.

He also criticized the six-party Nation Alliance’s condemnation of the Istanbul attack. “There is no mention of the PKK/PYD in their statement. They cite terrorism but refrain from naming which terror organization did this,” Bahçeli said.

The attack is aiming to stop the rise of Türkiye in the region and in the world, the MHP leader said, “The objective of this bloody attack is to sabotage the 2023 vision of Türkiye. Those who claim that the government is behind this attack because of the looming elections are not merely dishonorable but also spies.”