Turkish main opposition party needs explanation on intel conspiracy claims, rival MHP says

ANKARA

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The main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) deserves a satisfying explanation after party head Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu said the country’s intelligence agency is conspiring against the CHP through media operations, according to the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader.

“If this is true, then everybody will face this, which means that the reliability of the MİT [National Intelligence Organization] has been reduced to ground level.” MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli told journalists after delivering his weekly speech to his party deputies at Parliament on Nov. 25.

“[Turkey’s] Foreign policy has been reduced to ground level, other elements have been reduced to ground level, and now it is the country’s security forces,” he said.

The government should take the claims seriously and release a statement to ease the concerns of the CHP, Bahçeli added.

CHP head Kılıçdaroğlu claimed in an interview with the Hürriyet Daily News on Nov. 20 that the intelligence service had received an instruction from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) to weaken the CHP through a concerted media operation.

“Their objective is to get us entangled in this frame. This campaign is being carried out by a group of people at the MİT,” he said.

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu challenged the main opposition leader over the weekend to prove his claims with concrete evidence.

“Doesn’t the MİT have anything else to deal with? You are already divided [within yourself],” Davutoğlu said on Nov. 23.

The issue was also on Davutoğlu’s agenda while he was addressing his deputies on Nov. 25, saying he avoided responding to Kılıçdaroğlu as the latter's mother-in-law had recently passed away, but would likely speak on the issue on Nov. 26.

Meanwhile, MHP head Bahçeli also criticized a recent draft that will introduce major changes in the security system.

“The AKP is strengthening the police while pushing back the military,” he said.

If passed, the draft bill will give the police and provincial governors additional authorities, while taking most of the authority over the gendarmerie from the military and putting it under the Interior Ministry.