Erbakan's 'tea invitation' and 'Kürecik' statement: 'If an approach of being a notary office is expected...'

Yeniden Refah Party Chairman Fatih Erbakan spoke in a press statement at the Turkish Grand National Assembly regarding President and AKP Chairman Recep Tayyip Erdoğan not inviting him to tea at the 'April 23' reception at the Parliament. 

"IT HAS BEEN REVEALED THAT THE STATE DIRECTLY ENGAGES IN TRADE"

Erbakan said the following:

"A very clear genocide, a crime against humanity, and the atrocity of the century that Israel has been continuing in Gaza since October 7 is ongoing. Faced with such a picture, calls were made that it does not befit us, as the descendants of the Ottomans, to trade with the murderous Zionist regime, but these calls were ignored for months. At the end of 6 months, all these reactions resulted in the government exporting 54 product categories. With the list published by the Ministry of Trade, restrictions were imposed on exports to Israel for 54 product categories. An important issue regarding this is that government officials, in their previous statements, were saying; 'we are doing this trade, but it is going to Palestine via Israel.' This restriction showed that this was not true. Again, government officials were saying throughout these months of reactions that 'the private sector is doing the trade with Israel, we as the state are not doing trade,' but it was also revealed that Eti Maden, a company of the Wealth Fund directly affiliated with the President, sent 21 tons of boric acid to Israel. In other words, it has been revealed that the state itself is also directly engaging in trade.

"KÜRECİK RADAR BASE MUST BE CLOSED IMMEDIATELY"

With the trade restriction introduced, a stance that does not align with our faith, our humanity, and our historical mission has been reversed. This stance must be taken further, and the restrictions must be expanded. For example, the Malatya Kürecik Radar Base, which was established to protect Israel against missile attacks, must be closed immediately, and any support from America to Israel via the Incirlik Base must also be prevented. The issue is not limited to trade alone. In the operation Iran carried out against Israel on April 15, more than 90 percent of the 30 cruise missiles and 120 ballistic missiles launched from Iran were blocked thanks to Israel's air defense systems. The early detection and taking of precautions against these missiles were thanks to the Kürecik Base. Does this attitude befit us? This base, which was established entirely to protect the Zionist regime against potential attacks from Iran, must be closed. Following our statements, the Directorate of Communications also made a statement and said, 'The information obtained by the Kürecik Radar Base is shared with NATO countries, not with Israel.' NATO countries include America and England. Therefore, your providing intelligence to these countries means you are providing it to Israel. Who can guarantee that the US will not take this data and share it with Israel?"

"WE ARE NOT A NOTARY OFFICE"

Responding to journalists' questions, Erbakan said, in response to the question "Are you not in the People's Alliance? Other leaders were invited to tea by Erdoğan, did you receive an invitation?", "We did not receive an invitation. This is at the discretion of our President. We, of course, leave the evaluation and judgment of this event to our dear nation. As the YRP, we are a party that has been conducting politics on the line of National View (Milli Görüş) since the day we were founded. We have always continued to call right, right, and wrong, wrong. We will continue to do so from now on. Truths are the truths of the nation, things that are for the benefit of the nation. Wrongs are things that are against the nation. But if an approach of 'call wrong, right, and be a notary office' is expected of us, there would be no point in us standing there," he said.