MHP leader sees ‘security failure’ in Ankara massacre

ANKARA

A serious security failure led to the Oct. 10 double suicide bombing in Ankara that killed at least 99 people, Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli has said, suggesting that the government should have resigned if it were not an interim government that will serve only until the Nov. 1 snap election.

In an interview with private broadcaster Habertürk late on Oct. 15, Bahçeli said Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu was wrong to claim that the current interim government, the caretaker of which is his Justice and Development Party (AKP), should not be dubbed an “AKP government.” 

“The prime minister is talking very wrongly and is distorting facts. He is destroying institutions while covering up the truth. If bombs are carried to Ankara by coming a long way, like 935 kilometers from Raqqa, then it means there is a failure or there are facts that we do not know,” Bahçeli said.

Referring to the removal of Ankara’s police, intelligence and security chiefs from their posts after the attack in order to ease the investigation into the bombing, the MHP head said these removals “relieved society.”

“There is a need for a very close investigation of the Suruç massacre and the Ankara massacre. Cities have become unlivable since July 20 [when clashes between the security forces and outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party militants erupted]. In such an environment, the resignation of two ministers is not very meaningful,” Bahçeli said.

Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has repeatedly called for dismissals at the Interior Ministry, demanding prompt action from Davutoğlu for either the dismissal or resignation of both the justice minister and the interior minister.

“It is actually the government whose resignation is primarily required. But there are only 15 days left until the election, so such a resignation would not be very meaningful,” Bahçeli told Habertürk.