MHP executive that is son of CHP deputy taken into custody

ANKARA

A senior executive of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) was taken into custody in Ankara on April 7 before being transferred to Istanbul as part of an ongoing investigation.

Erkan Haberal, a member of the Central Executive Board (MYK) of the MHP, had applied to his party to run for parliament on an MHP ticket in the June 7 parliamentary elections. He was taken into custody as part of an investigation conducted by Istanbul Police Department’s Anti-Smuggling and Organized Crime Branch, the state-run Anadolu Agency said.

“The timing is rather meaningful. Has God’s each and every day run out … today, the day when deputy candidate lists will be submitted?” MHP Deputy Chair Tuğrul Türkeş was quoted as saying in news reports.

April 7 is the deadline for political parties to submit their candidates in the run-up to the June 7 parliamentary elections. Accordingly, political parties will have to name their candidates for at least 41 provincial constituencies by April 7 and submit them to the Supreme Election Board. Otherwise, they will not be able to run in the June 7 elections.

Erkan Haberal is the son of Mehmet Haberal, a deputy of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP).

CHP Zonguldak deputy Mehmet Haberal was released from prison on time served and went on to take his parliamentary oath two years after he was elected as a lawmaker, on Oct. 2, 2013.

A renowned surgeon and former rector of the private Başkent University, Haberal was one of the highest-profile civilian suspects in the Ergenekon coup case. At the final hearing of the Ergenekon trial, Haberal was first given 12.5 years on charges related to a coup attempt, but was released by the court in consideration of his time served.

In October 2014, when an operation to arrest top police officers suspected of involvement in illegal eavesdropping on senior officials, including President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the name of Erkan Haberal was cited among politicians who were unlawfully eavesdropped upon by suspects who were members of the Police Department.