Three MHP MPs resign from party over alleged gold smuggling

Duvar English

Three deputies from the Turkish ruling alliance partner Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) announced their resignations from the party on Nov. 20.

In a statement, MHP Deputy Chair Semih Yalçın said they requested Hasan Basri Sönmez, İsmail Akgül and Mustafa Demir to resign from the party following “an ongoing investigation within the party.”

Three figures all posted the same message on their social media accounts and said, “We are at the disposal of our leader (Devlet Bahçeli) and our party until our last breath.”

"MHP is the place for those who do not abuse their authority, do not promote their ego, and stay away from arrogance," MHP Deputy Chair Feti Yıldız said in another statement.

The motivation behind the move was their alleged involvement in gold smuggling.

Journalist Timur Soykan reported in October that 60 kilos of smuggled gold was caught in the VIP lounge of Istanbul Airport in the suitcases of former Deputy Minister of Customs and Trade, and former AKP MP Fatih Metin and his former chief of staff in September. 

Timur also reported that the intelligence detected some deputies who smuggled gold using the VIP lounge.

Meanwhile, Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç announced that there were no judicial investigation into the deputies.

On the other hand, Akgül’s house was previously searched by the police as part of an investigation into the murder of Sinan Ateş when Akgül was the head of the Bolu branch of the Grey Wolves (“Ülkü Ocakları”). He became MHP deputy in the 2023 election.

Former Grey Wolves head Sinan Ateş was assassinated on Dec. 30, 2022, in the capital Ankara. His family has been accusing MHP seniors of the murder. 

The Grey Wolves, operating inside Turkey for decades, is regarded as the armed wing of the MHP.