MHP leader urges Trump over ties with Türkiye

ANKARA

Devlet Bahçeli, the leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) has urged U.S. President-elect Donald Trump to follow a different approach toward Türkiye than in his first term between 2017 and 2021.

Bahçeli, the closest ally of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has elaborated on the results of the U.S. presidential elections, which pledged a second term for the billionaire politician at the White House.

“We are looking into the results of the U.S. elections from a Türkiye-centered perspective. It is in the mutual interest of both countries that Trump displays a different profile [on ties with Türkiye] than in his first term,” Bahçeli said in his weekly address to his parliamentary group on Nov. 11.

Bahçeli referred to ties between the two allies between 2017 and 2021, when Trump served as the 45th U.S. president.

Türkiye and the U.S. went through several serious crises during this period. Trump had imposed several sanctions on Türkiye over the deployment of the S-400 air defense systems from Russia, the cross-border operation into northern Syria and the Pastor Brunson incident.

“The policies to be pursued by Trump after his election as the U.S. president have been in the center of discussions for days,” Bahçeli said, slamming some circles in Türkiye who have expressed sorrow over the defeat of the Democratic nominee, Kamala Harris.

“The plans for unseating our president by [U.S. President Joe] Biden and his collaborators inside Türkiye have been smashed to smithereens [through the results of the American polls],” Bahçeli stated.