Ruling AKP’s ally MHP says state of emergency should not be lifted yet

ANKARA

MHP leader Bahçeli (L) and President Erdoğan.

The ongoing state of emergency in Turkey should continue, said a deputy chair of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) on June 26, contradicting the pledges of the MHP’s election ally, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). 

“We think the threat posed by FETÖ continues,” said Mustafa Kalaycı, referring to what the authorities call the Fethullahist Terorrist Organization, widely believed to have orchestrated the July 2016 coup attempt.

Speaking on private broadcaster CNN Türk, Kalaycı also referred to ongoing operations against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in neighboring Iraq. 

“It seems that the state of emergency should last a little longer,” he said.

The state of emergency was declared in the wake of the July 15, 2016 coup attempt and has since then been extended in three-month periods, latest of which will expire on July 19.

However, following opposition criticism on the emergency state, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan also vowed to lift the implementation after the June 24 general and presidential election.

“God willing, we will review the state of emergency after the elections and we may lift it. We will work on it after we form a cabinet. The issue will not linger on for very long. We will take a step and move on,” Erdoğan had said on June 8.

Turkey has a “clear will” to lift it, Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdağ also said a day after the elections.

“We have given a promise before the elections. The state of emergency will expire on July 19. When it expires we will make the final decision. Our will is very clear and it for the lifting of the state of emergency. But the timing has not been decided yet,” Bozdağ said.

Erdoğan’s AKP and the MHP formed the “People’s Alliance” before the election, which has now gained a parliamentary majority if they continue to cooperate. The MHP also supported Erdoğan as the presidential candidate.