Bahçeli accuses CHP of coming between Öcalan and DEM Party, calls for legal regulation for Erdoğan’s re-election

Duvar English

Turkish government-ally, far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli on Nov. 5 reiterated his last week call on jailed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Öcalan to announce the dissolution of the PKK at the Parliament.

Speaking at the parliamentary group meeting of his party, Bahçeli said, “The terrorism will end in the Century of Turkey. If the head of the terrorist organization (Öcalan), who has been sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment, wants to say that terrorism is over, that the organization has been disbanded, let him come to the DEM Parliamentary Group (to announce it), I stand by my promise. I insist on my proposal.”

Bahçeli again said that Öcalan then can use his “right to hope,” which is the right of convicts sentenced to life imprisonment to expect to be released one day.

He then accused the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) of coming between Öcalan and the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party.

“The DEM Party should also clarify its stance and make it clear whether it will distance itself from terrorism. There is no Kurdish problem in Turkey, there is a separatist uprising. The CHP's provocative moves are aimed at sabotaging the atmosphere of brotherhood. The exploitation of Mr. Ahmet Türk, a Kurdish figure with health problems, and the insidious attempts to drive a wedge between İmralı and the DEM Party are the products of a black campaign led by the CHP with foreign connections,” he claimed.

His remarks came one day after three DEM Party mayors were undemocratically replaced by trustees by the government. 

This move also came after Bahçeli’s and government’s seeming reconciliation attempts with the Kurds in the last month.

Bahçeli also said, “They say that we are looking for a way to get (Erdoğan) re-elected (with these attempts). If terrorism is eradicated from our lives, if the monster of inflation is crushed, if Turkey reaches the peak of political and economic stability, is it not a natural and right choice for our president, Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, to be elected once again?”

He called for a legal regulation to allow Erdoğan to run once again as the constitution limits his term to two. His 2023 run was also controversial as it was his third time running for the presidency, one under the old parliamentary system and two under the presidential system.

In response to Bahçeli, one of the ousted DEM Party mayors, Mardin Mayor Ahmet Türk, said, "If today we have a dialog with the CHP, we are here to meet, talk and discuss with all political parties in Turkey and create a formula that will contribute to the solution of the (Kurdish) problem. We can also meet with Mr. Bahçeli if they really want to solve the problem and work for a democratic future. For this reason, no one is in a position to exploit us. Kurds are a politicized people today, Kurds know what they want. Kurds have the consciousness and the power to realize which project is a democratic project or a truly undemocratic project."