Challenged by PM Davutoğlu, Nationalist leader announces visit to Tunceli

ANKARA

MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli speaks during his party's group meeting at Parliament. AA Photo

Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli will travel to the Eastern Anatolian province of Tunceli (Dersim) over the weekend, after Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu claimed that he would not be able to reiterate his arguments on the "Dersim debate" if he meets with residents of the province.

“The MHP has sufficient power and character to conduct politics throughout Turkey,” Bahçeli said in a written statement on Nov. 26.

He will visit Tunceli on Nov. 28 and meet with residents of the province, he also said, noting that the city is no different than other part of Turkey.

Davutoğlu challenged the MHP leader to deliver his political arguments in Tunceli on Nov. 25. “Are you able to address all of Turkey?” Davutoğlu, who recently paid a visit to Tunceli, asked Bahçeli while speaking to his party in Parliament.

Bahçeli later accused Davutoğlu of “attempting ethnic and sectarian provocation ... encouraging discrimination and reflecting separatism," and vowed to visit Tunceli in order to “reinforce the legacy of brotherhood.”