Breaking News... Devlet Bahçeli defends the individual arrested over the 'assassination plot against Aziz İhsan Aktaş' allegation: 'He is my fellow nationalist and comrade'

MHP Chairman Devlet Bahçeli, in a written statement, criticized the speech delivered by CHP leader Özgür Özel at the Aydın rally with harsh words. Bahçeli described Özel's speech as a "specimen of delusion, defeat, and frustration."

Arguing that bribery schemes and corruption relations have become rampant in CHP-run municipalities, Bahçeli said, "A reign of illicit gain and theft has been established in municipalities under CHP management."

"SELAHATTİN YILMAZ IS MY FELLOW NATIONALIST"

Reacting sharply to Özgür Özel's portrayal of Selahattin Yılmaz as a "hired killer and assassin" during his rally speech, Bahçeli used the following expressions:

"Selahattin Yılmaz is my fellow nationalist and comrade. No nationalist can be defined as a hired killer, assassin, traitor, or illegitimate. Such a characterization is a very grave slander. It is not within anyone's capacity to set the course or direction for the MHP."

WHAT HAD HAPPENED?

Selahattin Yılmaz, known for his visit to MHP Chairman Devlet Bahçeli alongside Alaattin Çakıcı, a prominent figure in the organized crime world, was among 14 people detained on charges of "being a member of an armed criminal organization." It was alleged that during a meeting in prison with the lawyer of Fatih Keleş, the President of the IMM Sports Club who is currently incarcerated as part of an IMM investigation, instructions were given to Selahattin Yılmaz to "silence Aziz İhsan Aktaş."

As part of the investigation, an operation was carried out on August 15 in Istanbul, Ankara, Antalya, Muğla, and Samsun to apprehend 14 suspects, including 2 lawyers, who were considered to be acting in concert with Yılmaz. During the operation, organization leader Selahattin Yılmaz and 13 other suspects were apprehended and detained on charges of "being a member of an armed criminal organization" and the attempted assassination of Aziz İhsan Aktaş.

According to the statement from the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, the searches of the residences yielded: 3 unlicensed pistols, 3 licensed pistols, 2 pump-action shotguns, 9 magazines, 2 extended magazines, 1 drum magazine, 2 rapid-fire attachments, 1 bulletproof vest, 383 rounds of ammunition, and 12 cartridges.

10 people, including Selahattin Yılmaz and lawyer Cem Duman—who recently made headlines with his gold-leafed office and photos of President and AKP Chairman Recep Tayyip Erdoğan behind him—were referred to the Criminal Court of Peace with a request for arrest, while judicial control was requested for 5 others.

The written statement issued by MHP Leader Devlet Bahçeli included the following remarks:

The speech delivered at the Aydın Rally by CHP Chairman Özgür Özel, who has become a symbol of political disarray, is in a single word a manifesto of delusion, a specimen of defeat and frustration.

Every word of the CHP Chairman is a lie and crooked; every claim and disclosure is alien and misleading.

Turkish political and democratic culture is being destroyed brazenly, and even more, recklessly.

To state it with importance and emphasis; the bribery wheels turning around CHP municipalities, the functioning corruption construction sites, the expanding network of dirty relations, the spiral of unfair gains raising the bar, and the widespread illegitimate money traffic are all in plain sight and at the forefront of the agenda.

It is evident in all its gravity that the individual and his gang, who instrumentalized the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality for political ambition and collected astronomical bribe money from tenders in a mechanism called the "System," have established a regime of robbery.

Instead of smearing the collected material evidence and the striking confessions of individuals benefiting from effective remorse, and blaming this or that person, the CHP Chairman's best option in terms of political reason and morality is to assist the functioning of the Turkish judiciary and to attempt to emerge from the deep quagmire the CHP has fallen into by facing the facts and engaging in self-criticism.

Defending corruption and bribery with the panic of the guilty will gain the CHP Chairman nothing, nor will it add anything.

The reign of illicit gain and theft openly established in municipalities under CHP management is a phenomenon that can no longer be denied as a front of evil and wickedness opened against the state and the nation.

The Republic of Turkey is a state of law.

The rule of law is binding for every Turkish citizen.

Attitudes, behaviors, and political actions contrary to this are, of course, null and void.

Those who think the sun can be plastered with mud, and those who calculate that our nation can be deceived with rallies, are at the bottom of a narrow-minded, unconscious, and restless conscience.

The Nationalist Movement Party desires that the ongoing and pending cases be concluded as soon as possible in accordance with the spirit of justice, and naturally, that the objective verdict be announced.

It is inevitable that prolonged and extended investigations and prosecutions will be subjected to political exploitation, suffer from organized smear campaigns, and trigger polarization dynamics.

It is clear and known what kind of a vice the CHP Chairman and the CHP-originated criminal organization are caught in, and what kind of dead end they are being dragged into.

Özgür Özel's portrayal of the name Selahattin Yılmaz as a "hired killer and assassin" in his Aydın speech and his attempt to speculate on our party is the result of a shameful and debased language.

Selahattin Yılmaz is my fellow nationalist and comrade.

No nationalist can be defined as a hired killer, assassin, traitor, or illegitimate, nor can he be named as such.

Claiming that the MHP is being directed based on the name Selahattin Yılmaz is a very grave slander, a baseless and unfounded fabrication.

Moreover, setting the course and direction for the MHP is not something anyone can do.

In short and repeatedly, Selahattin Yılmaz is my fellow nationalist and comrade.

I believe that his innocence will be understood and revealed in the process.

My advice to Özgür Özel is to stop harping on our comrades and to busy himself with his thieving companions who are within arm's and eye's reach, and even in quite large numbers, and to ponder on these individuals if he is not in cooperation with them.