Democracy package a betrayal of Turkey’s unity, nationalist party leader says

ANKARA

MHP leader Bahçeli says the democratization package aims to divide Turkey. DHA photo

The democratization package to be announced by the government aims to divide Turkey and is evidence of betrayal of the country’s unity, the leader of the opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) has said, claiming that the ongoing peace process is proceeding at the bidding of Abdullah Öcalan, the imprisoned leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

“Preparing a democratization package upon the consultations of İmralı [the island where Öcalan is serving a life sentence] and Kandil [the headquarters of the PKK] is an indication of the rotten political understanding of the prime minister. I wonder how many ruling party lawmakers know about the content of this package,” MHP head Devlet Bahçeli said during his party’s meeting yesterday. “The one who divides Turkey in his mind is the prime minister.”

Bahçeli also announced the majority of his party’s candidates for the upcoming local elections, launching its pre-election campaign under the headline, “Enough is enough.”

In a long speech to party members, he strongly criticized the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government and the pro-government media. Putting the much-anticipated democracy package at the core of his criticism of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Bahçeli said Erdoğan would have to “pay the cost of his sins.”

The MHP head also said the government’s foreign policy was bringing about considerable security problems, suggesting that al-Qaeda had become established on Turkey’s border with Syria as a result of the government’s policies. He claimed that the AKP had assisted al-Qaeda in its efforts to gain influence in the region.