MHP kicks off campaign, vows to end peace process

ANKARA

AA Photo

The Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) has declared its readiness to form a post-election coalition government with all parties except the Peoples’ Democratic Party, which it described as an “extension of the PKK.”

As the MHP unveiled its campaign manifesto on Oct. 3 ahead of the Nov. 1 snap election, its leader Devlet Bahçeli said that in the event that the polls result in a similar stalemate to that seen after the July 7 election, his party was ready to work with the Justice and Development Party (AKP) or the Republican People’s Party (CHP), while stressing that their “aim is a single-party MHP government.”

Bahçeli pledged to put a final end to the already collapsed peace process that aimed to peacefully end the decades-long conflict between the government and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). He similarly vowed to lift legislation passed for the peace process and to try “all who supported or collaborated with terrorists.” 

The MHP’s election manifesto also promises to move the relocated Süleyman Şah Tomb back to its previous location in Syria. 

The party’s manifesto, headed “You Know Best, Turkey,” is a five-pronged strategy focusing on social and administrative reforms, the economy, poverty, counter-terrorism, and anti-corruption. Its slogan in the upcoming election will be: “Vote for the future of the country.”

There are some minor changes compared to the MHP’s June 7 election declaration.

One of these is the MHP’s pledge to “employ an average of 700,000 young people every year,” as well as to hire a total of 120,000 teachers in 2016. It also vowed to pay 1,400 Turkish Liras ($467) twice a year to retired people and cap the price of oil for farmers.

Meanwhile, the party also promises to provide 250 lira in rental aid for all those who are not landowners, while also allocating public land to the poorest citizens.