Bahçeli comments on FETÖ-linked MPs in the AKP (20.11.2016)

MHP General Chair Devlet Bahçeli held a one-and-a-half-hour meeting with MHP mayors the day before yesterday. Bahçeli, touching on the 15 July coup attempt and the FETÖ operations, said that an attempt to infiltrate the MHP had been prevented.

As reported by Kamil Elibol of Sözcü, Bahçeli, having indicated that FETÖ had eight components and that the political component was the most important of these, continued as follows, “Every coup has its political grouping. This coup’s political grouping must also be exposed. Within the AKP, 89 MPs – 47 of them no longer in office - are said to have FETÖ connections. Everybody is targeted with the sole exception of this political grouping. But, its turn will come. When FETÖ’s political component is exposed, we will see which politicians were involved.”

REFERENCE TO TÜRKEŞ

Devlet Bahçeli, assessing efforts in the direction of constitutional change, went on as follows, “The MHP will blaze the way forward as to solving the existing crisis over the country’s government. The MHP never shirked this duty in past periods of crisis. The MHP, which in the crisis accompanying the 2007 Presidential election put an end to the debate over 367 votes by adopting the stance of ‘my country first, my party second’, has adopted a similar approach within the difficult process we are going through today. The AKP is proposing a legal footing involving constitutional change. Our people are looking into it. We support the parliamentary system. They come out and say, ‘Türkeş wanted a presidential system.’ Yes, this did come up in the book ‘Nine Lights’, but in a later period he defended the parliamentary system. Nobody cares to remember this.”

MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli summed up as follows, “There is a de-facto situation today. If there are 330 votes in parliament, the issue will be put before the people. We are prepared to accept whatever the people say. But, if they can’t get 330, everybody including the President must go back to within their legal limits.”