MHP leader denies 'regime problem' after Islamic flag brawl

ANKARA

Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli has declared that Türkiye has "no regime problem" following a recent brawl over an Islamic flag at a pro-Palestine rally in Istanbul.

The incident occurred on Jan. 1 during a demonstration supporting Palestinians amid the war in Gaza. A 48-year-old attendee, İsmail Aydemir, was punched in the face by a student near the Galata Bridge over a flag bearing the Islamic concept of monotheism, Tawhid. The flag triggered an altercation, leading to the intervention of a police officer who detained the student involved.

Speaking at a ceremony at the MHP headquarters on Jan. 6, Bahçeli condemned the attack on Aydemir, dismissing the notion of the flag as a symbol of the Islamic caliphate as "madness."

Addressing those critical of the flag, he stated, "Hey you bunch of ignoramuses, hey you group of self-ignorant people, hey you caravan of political peddlers, is there such a thing as the flag of the caliphate?" Bahçeli argued that the flag represented the central concept of Islam, not an endorsement of a specific political order.

"If the discomfort and indigestion are due to the word Tawhid, I openly voice our side and our decision and write it down in history," Bahçeli said and recited the Tawhid words in Arabic.

Refuting claims of a regime problem, he asserted that Türkiye has no different quest regarding its established order. Bahçeli criticized those who "propagate fears and attack national unity," accusing them of being infiltrators influenced by foreign intelligence organizations.

"Those who plan to harden social polarization by generating virtual fears, those who are controlled from outside and planted in society and politics like land mines, are not well-intentioned," Bahçeli said.

The MHP leader highlighted the importance of protecting the founding principles of the republic, its legal will, and its political philosophy. He argued that discussions surrounding regime change are intended to "raise social tension and disrupt domestic peace."

Bahçeli also referenced a recent incident where an individual shouted anti-republican and pro-Sharia slogans at Anıtkabir, the mausoleum of modern Türkiye founder Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. The individual, identified as Y.T., was arrested and sent to prison last week after the court found him guilty.