Bahçeli's 'one Kurd, one Alevi' model stirs up MHP: Former Deputy Chairman lashes out at Bahçeli
MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli's remarks that "the President should have two deputies; one a Kurd, the other an Alevi" have caused a major stir within the party. Former Deputy Chairman Atila Kaya criticized Bahçeli with harsh expressions.
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The information brought to the agenda in journalist İsmail Saymaz's column today has had a bombshell effect in political circles. Saymaz wrote that MHP Chairman Devlet Bahçeli made a striking statement during a closed-door group meeting with his party's deputies a few months ago.
It was alleged that Bahçeli, who emphasized national unity and brotherhood at the meeting, said, "Kurds and Alevis are the essential elements of this state and cannot be excluded from the bureaucracy," and then proposed, "Let the President have two deputies. Let one be Kurdish and the other Alevi."
Atila Kaya, who served in various positions in the MHP for years and also served as the Chairman of the Ülkü Ocakları (Idealist Hearths), opposed this proposal with very harsh words.
Evaluating Bahçeli's words as "a model that attempts to divide Turkey through ethnic and sectarian identities," Kaya used the following expressions on his social media account:
"Will MHP members, who pray for this to be denied, be able to defend even this by saying 'loyalty to the leader is our honor' if it is confirmed?! The name of turning Turkey into Lebanon or Iraq cannot be 'nationalism'! The honor of Turkishness is to stand against this!"