UPDATES WITH MORE QUOTES FROM MHP LEADER
By Satuk Bugra Kutlugun
ANKARA (AA) – Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahceli has denied his opposition party would be represented in any Cabinet reshuffle in a prospective coalition with the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party.
Speaking to reporters after his party’s regular parliamentary group meeting in Ankara on Tuesday, Bahceli said: “There are claims the MHP would become a coalition partner of the AK Party by taking ministerial positions in the new Cabinet. These claims are wrong.”
He added the MHP is “not a party that cover the gaps of other parties.”
The MHP prominently lent its support to the AK Party’s Yes campaign ahead of last month’s referendum, leading some observers to speculate that a coalition with MHP Cabinet ministers might be in the offing. Bahceli’s statement effectively quashed those rumors.
Prompted by another question, the MHP leader denied he would be a presidential candidate in the 2019 elections.
The approval of Turkey’s April 16 referendum ushered in a host of changes, including the shift from a parliamentary system of government to a presidential one.
Under the new system, simultaneous elections for the presidency as well as a newly-expanded parliament are due to be held in 2019.
– Bahceli slams CHP
Bahceli said the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) had gone too far by disregarding the Supreme Election Board’s decision on referendum results.
“Turkish people have spoken in the April 16 referendum and the result was Yes. The case is closed. However, the CHP continues to belittle itself by saying the results of the referendum is a conspiracy against the people,” he said.
The Supreme Election Board (YSK) on Thursday published the results of the referendum in the official gazette.
Voters went to the polls on April 16 to decide whether to approve changes to the country’s constitution, which also includes shift from the current parliamentarian system to a presidential one.
The Yes campaign won with 51.41 percent, while the No vote stood at 48.59 percent, official results show.
A total of 48,936.604 votes were valid, and turnout was 85.43 percent, the gazette said.
After the election board rejected the opposition parties’ appeal, the CHP then approached the Council of State, urging the court to suspend the official referendum results until the end of the legal process.
However, the court also rejected the appeals, saying no appeal against the YSK decisions could be made at any court.
The CHP then said it would appeal the referendum results at the European Court of Human Rights.
– ‘Full FETO cleansing’
The MHP leader also urged the government to struggle against FETO members at “full capacity”.
“There are civil servants among FETO members, but how come there are not any politicians?” Bahceli said.
“Anybody who betrayed his country must be held accountable,” he added.
Bahceli said FETO dismissals from Turkish military, media and bureaucracy continues but the purge “stops when it comes to politicians”.
While some opposition Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) politicians, including the party’s two co-chairpersons and some lawmakers have been taken into custody for their alleged links to the PKK terror group, no politician has been held in Turkey so far for connections to FETO.
Led by U.S.-based Fetullah Gulen, FETO is accused of orchestrating Turkey’s July 15, 2016, defeated coup as well as being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police and the judiciary.
