Bahçeli denies new process with DEM Party

ANKARA

Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli has called his unexpected handshake with Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) officials an act of "brotherhood rather than the start of a new political process."

"It is well-known where those who take my extended hand out of context and drag it to other channels want to go," Bahçeli told MHP members in Ankara on Oct. 15.

A parliamentary session on Oct. 1 concluded with Bahçeli shaking hands with pro-Kurdish DEM Party co-chair Tuncer Bakırhan and several other MPs.

“Those who draw different conclusions from the hand I extended and make fabricated interpretations have surely fallen into the clutches of error and mistake,” Bahçeli said.

"We extend our hand not for a new process, but for brotherhood."

The MHP leader urged all political parties to prioritize the country's interests. "Today is a day of unity, today is a day of solidarity," he stated.

"There is room for everyone in the hearts of the Nationalist Movement Party and the [ruling] People's Alliance. Our heart is open to everyone who calls these lands homeland."

Bahçeli also issued a warning to the DEM Party, cautioning them against interpreting the gesture as a concession. "The state does not negotiate with a terrorist organization," he added.