The MHP’s Black-Bound File!

Yesterday was the 101st anniversary of the Treaty of Lausanne, the title deed of our country.

Seven years ago, on July 25, 2017, MHP Leader Devlet Bahçeli held a press conference and said, “Yesterday, we marked the 94th anniversary of the Treaty of Lausanne.” After explaining the meaning and importance of Lausanne, he stated the following:

“It is a clear provocation that on July 18, a time frame that coincides exactly with the anniversary of Lausanne, the President of Greece visited the islands of Bulamaç and Eşek, right off the coast of Aydın, and Koyun Island, right next to İzmir. Moreover, these islands and 15 other Aegean islands have been occupied by Greece in an unjust and unlawful manner. The fact that Greek state officials are landing on the islands as if to show off should not be left unanswered, and the invasion of the Aegean must never be tolerated. Those who come to Bulamaç Island today will come to Aydın at the first opportunity tomorrow; those who land on Koyun Island today will seek to drop anchor in İzmir at the first opportunity. I condemn Greece’s attitude, which does not comply with the law of neighborliness, and I expect them to withdraw immediately from the islands they have occupied. Let them not test our patience; let them not mistake our maturity and dignity for weakness. If there is anyone who wants to be thrown into the sea again, we will gladly throw them; if there is anyone who wants to be chased, we will chase them to the place they fled from.”

Bahçeli held a press conference one day before the anniversary of Lausanne this year as well. The topic was the 50th anniversary of our Cyprus Peace Operation. Greece had once again spewed delusions, from its President to its Prime Minister, its ministers to its priests. While Erdoğan and CHP Chairman Özgür Özel only targeted Defense Minister Dendias, it was expected that Bahçeli would strike them all with an Ottoman slap. No, he beat the CHP worse than he did Greece; he even went as far as identifying the Mitsotakis he mentioned with the CHP, and only taught Dendias a lesson with the words, “rudeness, cowardice, and unadulterated insolence.”

Fortunately, regarding the Greek Cypriot side’s attempt to establish a naval base in Larnaca to turn Cyprus into Israel’s logistics center, he first said, “My hope is that this grave scandal will be reversed.” Then, instead of boasting directly about “building a presidential palace, parliament building, and mosque” like Erdoğan in response to that naval base, he chose to use the following expressions:

“The history, culture, and strategic base that Turkey has established in the Eastern Mediterranean is a response to all kinds of aggressive ambitions and should be militarily fortified if necessary.”

However, it was not Bahçeli’s statements regarding Greece and Cyprus that came to the fore, but naturally his words regarding the list of 154 people targeted by the MHP for speaking and writing about the Sinan Ateş murder. Showing the “black-bound” file containing the names of 154 people and criticizing them more than Greece and the Greek Cypriot side, Bahçeli’s emphasis that, “When the day comes, this file will be put into action. The action will be of a legal nature,” drew attention!..

He Wore Bellows Boots for Cyprus

Since our topic is Cyprus-Greece, let us also open a “black-bound” file.

You may remember; around this time last year, the Greek Cypriots and the UN tried to block the TRNC’s Pile-Yiğitler road construction work, and a scuffle broke out.

It was after this incident that MHP Leader Bahçeli showed his reaction to the Greek Cypriot side and the UN with prayer beads in his hand, bellows boots on his feet, Zeki Müren’s song “Ağlama Sevdam” (Don’t Cry My Love) in the background, and a note saying “Cyprus is Turkish.”

The result; 1 year has passed, and the UN and the Greek Cypriots are still blocking that road work!..

Greece’s Record

Let us come to our most fundamental problem with Greece: the occupation of our islands in the Aegean and their arming in violation of Lausanne.

Bahçeli had said in his 2017 press conference that 15 of our islands were occupied; that number has now risen to 22, including two rocky islets.

Our first occupied islands were Koyun, Eşek, and Bulamaç. Erkan Akçay, who is currently the MHP Group Deputy Chairman, submitted a motion in 2012 stating that Eşek and Bulamaç had been Turkish territory since the time of Suleiman the Magnificent, and asked the question, “How can Greece demand passports from Turks going to these islands for a picnic?” and said, “There is a de facto occupation by the Greeks. We will not let this go.”

In a message he published on the occasion of the August 30 Victory Day in 2020, Bahçeli pointed to Greece’s pirate impositions and insolent provocations in the Mediterranean and the Aegean, and its arming of 16 of the 23 islands that should be demilitarized, and issued the following warnings:

“The fate of those who challenge the Turkish nation, to be borne with its consequences, is either the grave or the auction block... Everyone should know that the place we look at is Kocatepe, the place we stand on is Dumlupınar, the place we become a flag is İzmir, and the place where we will sink the enemy is again the Aegean.”

Following this speech, Bahçeli instructed the Idealist (Ülkücü) youth to hold an “Independence and Determination March” on September 9.

On September 9, the Idealist youth formed 12 groups representing the 12 islands and marched from Republic Square to Gündoğdu Square, the place where the last enemy was thrown into the sea, to highlight the 12 islands issue and announce Turkey’s rights over the islands to the whole world.

At the head of the action was Ahmet Yiğit Yıldırım, the Chairman of the Idealist Hearths (Ülkü Ocakları), who is currently accused in the Sinan Ateş murder, and he spoke in summary as follows:

“The islands that should be demilitarized according to the 1923 Lausanne and 1947 Paris Treaties have been armed by Greece... It is banditry for Greece to hide behind hostile countries, take refuge in the shadow of injustices and illegalities, and set out on a quest for independence. The Greek government should come to its senses... Greece should know this well; every member of the Great Turkish nation is prepared and on alert for a campaign. It will not refrain from giving blood and life for the 12 islands that are its historical right. This march is the warning of the Turkish youth to the insolent Greece that wants to encircle us in the Aegean and the Mediterranean.”

What Does This Map Tell Us?

The result of those warnings?

It was the first days of 2024. Greek Defense Minister Dendias, whom the government is currently targeting, announced that resources had been allocated in the Ministry’s 2024 budget for a project of 1,400 homes for soldiers across the country, and that 500 of these homes would be built on the Aegean islands in the first phase.

Following his delusions regarding the Peace Operation, Dendias announced on the eve of the 101st anniversary of Lausanne that the tender process for these homes had begun and published a map showing which islands and how many homes would be built.

Our Eşek Island and Lesbos, Rhodes, and Kos, which were decided to be in a non-military status by Lausanne, are among them.

Especially; for the attention of those who say, “first the country, then the party, then me”!..