Notorious mafia leader Çakıcı visits MHP leader Bahçeli after being released from prison

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Turkey releases notorious mafia leader Alaattin Çakıcı with ties to nationalist party from prison

Notorious mafia leader Alaattin Çakıcı has visited MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli at the party's headquarters in the capital Ankara.

Following his visit, Çakıcı shared a photo of his with Bahçeli on Twitter and wrote: “I visited the legendary living leader of the Turkish world and Turkish nation, my esteemed brother who is the chairman of the community which I am a member of, at our headquarters.”

Çakıcı, whose ties to the deep state and the MHP are known, was released from prison on April 16 as part of an amnesty law that was drafted by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and its ally MHP. The law has allowed thousands of convicts and arrestees to be freed in a bid to ease overcrowding in jails in the face of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Çakıcı's release has sparked outrage among human rights activists as journalists and political prisoners were excluded from the government's amnesty law.

'Under AKP's new sentence reform law, mafia leaders released while political prisoners die in jail'

The 67-year-old Çakıcı was imprisoned for convictions on charges that included instigating murder, armed attack, money laundering and leading an illegal organization. He served 16 years of his decades-long sentences before his release.

Bahçeli had paid a visit to Çakıcı in a hospital in the Central Anatolian province of Kırıkkale on May 23, 2018, where he was briefly hospitalized.

Bahçeli's visit had come after calling for a general amnesty on May 12, 2018 from his Twitter account, saying that Çakıcı, who he deemed “a lover of the nation,” as well as another mafia leader, Kürşat Yılmaz, must be freed.

Genel Başkanımız Sayın Devlet Bahçeli, rahatsızlanan Alaattin Çakıcı’yı tedavi gördüğü Kırıkkale Yüksek İhtisas Hastanesi’nde ziyaret ediyor. pic.twitter.com/g9htbwnEY9

— MHP (@MHP_Bilgi) May 23, 2018