Turkish nationalist leader Devlet Bahçeli strongly condemned the attitude of the main opposition party, the CHP, accusing it of aligning itself with ‘marginal and illegal left-wing groups’ in the ‘service of foreign interests’ and of adopting ‘the same stance as the enemies of Turkey in their ambitions, actions and rhetoric’, describing the protests called by this party as a ‘conspiracy’ orchestrated in order to damage the international image of Turkey, which he assured ‘will not fall for these shady tricks’.
‘The masked protesters who have thrown stones, axes and acid at our police have no relation to democracy, law or freedom,’ stressed the leader of the MHP party, the fourth largest political force in the Turkish parliament. Condemning the damage caused by the demonstrators to the Şehzadebaşı Mosque, Bahçeli referred to the protests organised by the main opposition party as ‘acts of vandalism’, accusing the CHP of living ‘on the fringes of reality’.
‘This is a judicial matter’
Turkey’s Justice Minister, Yılmaz Tunç, also referred to the protests during a speech he gave yesterday to members of the foreign press in Istanbul, in which he categorically denied that the Turkish government or President Tayyip Erdoğan had anything to do with the decision of the judiciary to investigate and arrest İmamoğlu – until last Sunday the mayor of Istanbul – for corruption.
‘This is a judicial matter,’ the minister emphasised. “Some circles, without knowing the details of the investigation, without examining the accusations or the defences and without reading the case files, have tried to put pressure on the judicial authorities and present this investigation as something with political motivations,” he denounced.
Tunç reiterated that the investigation is in the hands of independent courts, and criticised some European governments for adopting a position on this matter based merely on ‘prejudice and double standards’ regarding Turkey. ‘What is more, it is a well-known fact that in the very countries that make such comments, numerous politicians and state authorities have been subject to investigations and charges brought before the courts,’ the Turkish Minister of Justice pointed out, wondering why in such cases the independence of the judicial system is not questioned, nor those European governments are accused of interfering in the justice system for political ends.
‘We expect from our European colleagues to approach this matter reasonably and with respect for our legal processes. The responsible attitude in this case is to wait for the judicial process to conclude,’ insisted the minister, who again criticised the protests in Turkey over the imprisonment of İmamoğlu saying that, instead of calling for demonstrations, the Turkish main opposition party should present the evidence it has that İmamoğlu and other detained mayors are innocent before the courts.
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Edited and reviewed by:
Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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