Gov't ally Bahçeli deems Turkey's main opposition 'a national security issue'

MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli has deemed the CHP "a national security issue" while he was commenting on a CHP deputy's remarks on the army "being sold to Qataris" in recent deals. "The fact that a CHP deputy calls the Turkish army 'sold' is a shame that should be brought to account," Bahçeli said.

Tuesday December 01 2020 03:19 pm

Duvar English

Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli has deemed the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) "a national security issue."

Bahçeli was commenting on CHP deputy Ali Mahir Başarır's remarks on the Turkish army "being sold" to Qataris in a series of deals signed between Ankara and Doha.

"The fact that a CHP deputy calls the Turkish army 'sold' is a shame and dishonor that should be brought to account. It's the rooting of enmity against Turkey," Bahçeli told his party members in a weekly parliamentary group meeting on Dec. 1.

"The CHP has come to a point where it became a national security issue," he added.

A probe was launched into CHP lawmaker Ali Mahir Başarır for saying that the Turkish army was "sold to Qataris."

Başarır on Nov. 28 slammed a contract signed last year with military vehicle producer BMC, a joint Turkish-Qatari venture, for the mass production of the Altay tank.

"We are at a point that the state's army is sold to Qatar in a first in the country's history," Başarır said in a program on Habertürk TV, referring to the Tank and Pallet Factory.

His comments were immediately slammed by the government, which prompted the judiciary to act on the issue as well.

During his speech, the MHP leader branded the CHP as "a political defect and a flaw."

"We have a problem with the CHP because it has a problem with Turkey. Our problem with the CHP stems from its defective policies," he said.

"Which part of our heroic Turkish army was sold? Was its struggle against terror sold? Calling the army 'sold' is a clear statement on being at the service of others. I'm telling the CHP: Being an enemy of our soldiers is being a soldier of the enemy.

According to Bahçeli, the presence of the Turkish army in the eastern Mediterranean, Africa, Syria, Qatar, Nagorno-Karabakh, Iraq, Afghanistan and Cyprus makes the opposition parties, including the CHP, Good (İYİ) Party, the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) and the Felicity Party, "lose their sleep."

"The Turkish Republic can't and won't be left to the hands of its enemies," he said.