BBP Chairman Mustafa Destici: 'No one should use the Sinan Ateş incident as political fodder'

Great Unity Party (BBP) Chairman Mustafa Destici visited his party's provincial headquarters in Elazığ. In his speech there, he said that they had come to Elazığ from Adıyaman, received information about the work carried out after the earthquake, and inspected the earthquake housing currently under construction in the Gölbaşı district of Adıyaman.

Stating that work is continuing in the provinces affected by the Kahramanmaraş-centered earthquakes on February 6 last year, and that there is great effort and work being done, Destici expressed that the relevant institutions are fulfilling their duties.

Reporting that earthquake housing is being built in Adıyaman, Destici shared the following:

"In our other provinces, the construction of housing continues according to the degree of destruction. Our state, our government, and our People's Alliance have allocated a significant portion of the budget to the earthquake regions, and therefore, the state is using all the means at its disposal to make every effort to resolve the grievances of our citizens who were harmed and affected by the earthquake. Hopefully, we will emerge from this process together."

Stating that he is also an educator, Destici continued his speech as follows:

"In recent years, the number of our classrooms has increased, and our students are now being educated in classes with fewer students. There are now smart boards in the classrooms. Instead of blackboards, there are projectors, projection screens, and computers. There were even projects to give a computer to every student. All of these are good, but if you cannot train the teacher well, you cannot get the result you expect in education. Therefore, our priority is to train good teachers. Now, very important steps have been taken regarding this. The Teaching Profession Law was enacted in the previous term. Opportunities were given to our teachers to become expert teachers and head teachers. Now there is another study. A Teaching Academy is being established. Those who successfully graduate from the academy will become teachers. I see this as a very important step and, in a way, a leap forward in education. I also condemn violence against educators."

Emphasizing that Turkey is continuing its fight against terrorism at full speed, and that they must never allow terrorism, terrorist organizations, and their extensions to gain a foothold not only within the borders but also across the borders, especially in northern Iraq and Syria, Destici recalled that a terrorist state is being attempted to be established in northern Syria with the support of the USA, and that Turkey has never tolerated this and will not do so in the future.

Destici used the expression, "Because that is the closest and most severe danger for us. Therefore, if possible, an operation should be organized there immediately and that region should be cleared of terrorists. Refugees in our nearby provinces such as Gaziantep and Hatay, who threaten the demographic structure, should also be sent to those cleared areas. Thus, a contribution should be made from somewhere to the reduction of the number of refugees in the country."

Condemning Israel's attacks on Gaza, Destici stated that if a ceasefire is to be achieved, it must be bilateral, and Hamas and Israel must carry out a prisoner or hostage exchange at the same time.

Upon a journalist's question regarding "how MHP Chairman Devlet Bahçeli's statements will affect the People's Alliance," Destici stated that the People's Alliance is not just an electoral alliance, but an alliance that prioritizes the existence of the state, the integrity of the country, the unity, brotherhood, independence, and future of the nation.

Explaining that the People's Alliance was built on these fundamental principles, Destici said that it has come this far in this way and will continue to do so from now on.

Destici made the assessment, "We are in favor of the continuation of the People's Alliance. Mr. Devlet Bahçeli also has some objections in his statements yesterday, and there are some issues he raised. He is expressing some of his discomfort regarding recent events. But in the end, what does he say? 'We are with the People's Alliance and our support for our President continues.' He says, 'Our support for the laws in Parliament continues.' This is what is important."

Regarding a question about the visits that have taken place in recent days, Destici reminded that a climate of softening has been blowing in politics after the local elections, and it continues to blow.

Noting that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan also accepted the meeting requests that came to him, Destici continued as follows:

"This is entirely at the discretion and initiative of our President. There are those who find the current process appropriate and those who do not. Everyone is already expressing their opinion. But the decision here belongs to our President. Our President opening the door to the chairmen of political parties who want to meet with him, giving them an appointment, and meeting with them—Mr. President and Ms. Meral did not just meet, or they did not just meet as the IYI Party Chairman. We are talking about two people who have known each other for a long time, dating back to the period when Ms. Meral was the Minister of Interior, and who have always met despite some political sparring that has continued from then until today. Therefore, there is nothing more natural than them meeting. That is why I think these acceptances or visits are correct.

Because there is a legal matter at hand. There is a file. The lady is visiting for the resolution of this. Therefore, if he did not accept it, then different meanings could be attributed to it. There is nothing more natural than him accepting it, this process continuing within the framework of the law, and him saying that it will be concluded completely by the judiciary. We are already saying this; we are saying that this matter should be resolved within the law. No one—I am talking about the Sinan Ateş incident—no one should use this as political fodder, attempt to lynch anyone with preconceived notions, or recklessly attack institutional identities."

Emphasizing that they do not find the dismissal of workers from municipalities to be correct, Destici noted the following:

"However, the DEM Party and CHP municipalities have a situation like this. Since they took over a significant portion of the municipalities from the AK Party or trustees, the staff is full, and they currently have no opportunity to hire workers. During the AK Party period—I am talking about the CHP municipalities or the DEM Party members—they are trying to make room for their own supporters by dismissing those who were hired during the trustee period. In other words, they are trying to give bread to one by playing with another's bread. This is never fair or just. We do not accept this."

Upon another question, Destici stated that Sinan Ateş's wife, Ayşe Ateş, has not made a request for a meeting with him to date.

News Source: AA