Erdoğan‘s political ally and Turkish nationalist leader Devlet Bahçeli, of the National Movement Party (MHP), criticised on 10 March plans by Israel and the US along with other countries for the possible involvement of the Middle East’s Kurdish population in the conflict in Iran, denouncing the double standards of many Western countries as well as attempts to sow discord in the region: “My Kurdish brothers and sisters are not for sale, they are not for rent,” he said.
Addressing his party’s deputies at a weekly meeting at the Turkish parliament in Ankara, and amid growing regional volatility following a wave of attacks and reprisals involving the US, Israel, Iran and several neighbouring countries, the MHP leader warned of “dark plans” aimed at increasing polarisation and tensions in the Middle East. In this context, and criticising the plans of Trump and other countries to bring down the Iranian regime by unleashing a civil war in Iran, he warned: “No force that plans to topple Iran from within should see our Kurdish brothers and sisters as mercenaries or mere pawns“.
“My Kurdish brothers and sisters are not for sale, they are not for hire, they are not mercenaries and they cannot be seen or presented as pawns in anyone’s projects. The Kurds are an honourable, dignified, brave, noble and sensible people. Those who conspire to create divisions and rifts in the Turkish-Kurdish brotherhood, those who provoke unrest in the historic Turkish cities of Iran and seek to incite conflicts between Turks and Kurds, are nothing but treacherous individuals who seek hostility. The Turk is the brother of the Kurd, and the Kurd is the destiny of the Turk, a partner in destiny,” Bahçeli said, Anatolia news agency reported.
The Turkish politician also pointed out that the vast majority of Iranian cities attacked, including Tabriz and Isfahan, are cities where Iran’s Turkic minority lives. Furthermore, he claimed that operations in Iran “ranging from regime change to the destruction of strategic and military capabilities, with a constantly changing scope and dimension” have set the region ablaze and unleashed chaos and destruction. “All countries that present themselves as experts on democracy, freedom, justice and human rights have failed the test, demonstrating how far they are from these values, both in substance and procedure,” he stressed.
“Has an undeclared religious war begun?” asks Bahçeli
“The bombing of a school in Minab (Iran) on 28 February 2026, which resulted in the death of 175 children, is an unbearable massacre,” Bahçeli denounced. “The international community must stand up. That moral and conscientious responsibility lies primarily with the American people and the Jewish community,” he insisted, while criticising the image of evangelist Christian clerics gathering at the White House to pray for US President Donald Trump, while at the same time Washington and Tel Aviv were continuing their attacks on Iran.
“Staging ceremonies in the Oval Office, being lectured by evangelical pastors and unleashing theological delusions about the battle of Armageddon shows, as a warning, that the world is directly facing a calamity. Has an undeclared religious war begun, and we are not aware of it?” asked Bahçeli, also warning of dark plans to fuel animosity between Sunnis and Shi’ites in the Middle East.
“No Muslim can or should fall into this trap. No Muslim can or should be complicit in such a sin. Shias are Muslims, Sunnis are Muslims; those who beat the drum of discord, those who point their weapon at imaginary conflicts, are utterly despicable. The Kurds will not and must not act as mercenaries for any force that is preparing the ground to deploy our Kurdish brothers and thus plan the internal collapse of Iran,” Bahçeli concluded.
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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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