Bahçeli's remarks on Can Atalay: 'I congratulate the honorable judges of the Court of Cassation'

MHP Chairman Devlet Bahçeli made important statements regarding current issues at the MHP Politics School Certificate Ceremony. Bahçeli used very harsh language while speaking about the young person who punched someone over allegations of carrying a caliphate flag during a march in support of Palestine, and the person who shouted "Damn the Republic" slogans while calling for Sharia at Anıtkabir.

Touching upon the Super Cup crisis in Saudi Arabia, Bahçeli said, "The only thing missing in Turkish football is football itself. Whoever was involved in the Riyadh crisis cannot gain exemption with a dry apology. The TFF could not manage the process. Fenerbahçe and Galatasaray could not remain composed."

Here are the highlights from Bahçeli's speech:

"The provocation by a pervert who shouted at the top of his lungs 'Damn the Republic, Sharia will come' at Anıtkabir on December 30, and the act of a madman who attacked our innocent person carrying the Kalima-i Tawhid banner on the grounds that they were carrying a caliphate flag during the march held on the first day of the year at the Galata Bridge to show mercy to our martyrs, support for Palestine, and curse Israel, are not coincidental in terms of timing. Is there such a thing as a caliphate flag? If the discomfort is with the Kalima-i Tawhid, I am noting this for history.

"PLAYING WITH THE NERVE ENDINGS OF THE TURKISH NATION IS NOT NATIONALISM"

The state of Turkey is a republic. Turkey is an indivisible whole with its language and nation. Turkey's flag and national anthem are clear. We will uphold the founding idea of October 29, 1923, to the end. We will stand against polemics and insidious goals. All those who fuel the caliphate debate, who encourage it, who exploit it and sound the alarm, are sick. Politics cannot be played against the state and the nation. Playing with the nerve endings of the Turkish nation is not nationalism. Turkish nationalism is a lover of the homeland and the nation.

"THEY COULD NOT ACT WITH COMPOSURE"

The wave of manufactured excitement that occurred after the Super Cup final, which was postponed while it was on the agenda to be played in Riyadh, has served no purpose other than to dynamite Turkey's regional relations and bridges of dialogue. The only thing missing in Turkish football is football. Anything else sought will be found. Just as the Turkish Football Federation could not manage the process, Fenerbahçe and Galatasaray could not act with common sense and composure."

"No one should pursue opening a page for political settling of scores through Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. The exploitation of Atatürk in a football match, or the failure to take precautions by calculating every possibility days before the match, cannot be evaluated as negligence or lack of foresight. If this is the case, it means Turkish football has hit a wall."

"THEY CANNOT GAIN EXEMPTION WITH A DRY APOLOGY"

Why Riyadh was chosen for the match to be played and why the protocol was not followed is a mystery. Whoever was involved in the Riyadh crisis cannot gain exemption with a dry apology. Dragging Turkish football into political debates has nothing to do with patriotism.

Social media is now an unbearable burden and is poisonous. We must either regulate social media use on a moral and national basis or completely disable this nest of misery and germs that the West has planted inside us. At this stage, social media has turned into a den of enemies and has begun to rot our national and spiritual life. We turn our faces to the wretches who will read this thought of mine as a restriction of freedom. If we cannot take precautions today, social peace will be damaged.

"WHEN WILL THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT DEFEND OUR RIGHTS?"

If there were a dictatorship, how would those who talk back and forth on television every evening and challenge the judiciary regarding the Can Atalay case be able to hold on? If there were a dictatorship, how would a terrorist in prison call the Turkish state an occupier? I congratulate the honorable judges of the Court of Cassation. When will the Constitutional Court defend our rights?"