Turkey's MHP to bolster switch to presidential system

By Kemal Karadag and Burcu Calik

ANKARA

The Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader said Saturday that his party would fulfill its responsibilities during restructuring of the government.

Speaking at a news conference, MHP leader Devlet Bahceli said: “Each of our friends has completed their final preparations to actively participate in legislative activities with extraordinary self-sacrifice."

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s re-election on June 24 marked Turkey's transition to an executive presidential system of government, which did away with the prime minister post, among other changes.

In the parliamentary polls, the People's Alliance of Erdogan's ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) won 53.6 percent of the votes, which gained MHP alone 49 seats at the parliament.

Speaking about Turkey’s fight against terrorism, he said: “Turkey should remove FETO (Fetullah Terrorist Organization) trouble and the PKK threat and secure its future by completely eradicating them.”

FETO orchestrated the defeated coup of July 15, 2016 in Turkey, which left 251 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured.

The PKK -- listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the EU -- resumed its armed campaign against Turkey in July 2015.

Bahceli also called on the U.S. and Europe to extradite FETO members to Turkey.

“If ties with the U.S. normalize and NATO supports Turkey's fight against terror with sincerity, all of the traitor FETO members living in the U.S. and Europe would be extradited to Turkey," he said.

U.S. military support for the terrorist PYD/PKK in Manbij has strained ties between Ankara and Washington and has led to fears of military clashes between the two NATO allies, since there are roughly 2,000 U.S. troops in the city.

The YPG/PKK and PYD/PKK are Syrian offshoots of the PKK terror group, which has taken some 40,000 lives in its 30-year terrorist campaign against the Turkish state, including those of women and children.

In early June, the two countries reached a deal on Manbij, which focused on the withdrawal of the PKK-affiliated YPG terror group from the city in order to stabilize the region.

The first patrols by Turkish and U.S. troops in the region began on June 18, and the 14th was completed on Saturday.