Chair of Turkey’s MHP: ‘My vote is for the shift to presidential system’
Speaking at his party’s first parliamentary group meeting of 2017, chair of Turkey’s Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Devlet Bahçeli touched on increase in the frequency of terror attacks against Turkey and the latest deadly armed attack of ISIL at İstanbul’s Reina nightclub, which claimed lives of 39 people and wounded 65.
Answering questions of journalists after the meeting, Bahçeli commented on constitutional amendments and plans to shift to presidential system by saying: “It will be brought to parliament floor within the next few days. There can’t be a group decision on things of this sort. I have only one vote. And, I’m going to say ‘yes’ to it both in the parliament and in the referendum.”
‘We are about to lose our patience in the face of terror’
Giving an emphasis on the ‘extend of terrorist attacks that Turkey has been faced with’, Bahçeli said “we are about to lose our patience” and continued: “Enmity against Turks and Turkey got sharpened (in 2016). Terror is a crime against humanity. And, herds of murderers who commit this crime turned 2016 into a year of darkness. Their target is Turkey; our national unity... All of them, FETÖ, ISIL, PKK, YPG/PYD, DHKP-C, are given duty for execution... And, they do not take a step back in the face of routine politics... We must find or create a new way to drown the terrorists in the blood they have shed... In 2016, the total number of our martyrs was 839. If this is not a national destruction, what is it? ...A deputy PM (referring to Kurtulmuş) says ‘Our citizens should be careful but not afraid.’ However, is it our citizens who should be careful or our state? If our citizens are to take the precautions themselves, what is the State for?
'Reina attack is tied to regional balance of power’
Asserting that the armed attack at Reina was tied to regional balance of power in regards to operation in Al-Bab, Bahçeli said ‘if one of the parts of the dirty imperialists games is YPG/PYD, the other is ISIL.’ The terrorist network between Raqqa, Kandil, Kobane, and Pennsylvania is too obvious to hide... And, the mastermind behind it is overseas... But the murderers have no way of escape...”
‘Certain posts on social media are acts of crime’
“...We have those who celebrate new year’s eve on the one hand, and those who commemorate conquest of Mecca, on the other. They are seperated and their partition has been growing... It is unacceptable for us to frown at each other because of the difference of our lifestyles... Certain posts on social media, both before and after the Reina massacre, are actually acts of crime... Saying ‘good that it happened’ is not only irrelevant to Islam but it is also lowness...”
Source: https://www.birgun.net/haber-detay/bahceli-mecliste-de-referandumda-da-evet-diyecegim-141736.html