As the opposition claimed cracks in the People’s Alliance formed by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), the two parties’ leaders met at the Presidential Complex last week.
AK Party leader President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said the meeting is a testament to the bonds between the two parties, especially on the matter of a terror-free Türkiye.
MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli’s recent call for the conditional release of Abdullah Öcalan, leader of the PKK terrorist group, received mixed reactions from the opposition, while Erdoğan hailed it as a historic window of opportunity to end PKK terrorism. Anti-government media claimed that Erdoğan was reluctant to endorse Bahçeli’s call, which involved Öcalan speaking at Parliament and urging fellow PKK members to lay down arms.
On Friday, one day after receiving Bahçeli at the Presidential Complex, Erdoğan addressed the executive committee of his party in a rescheduled meeting, apparently to demonstrate loyalty to the People’s Alliance. Media outlets reported on Sunday that Erdoğan told AK Party members that they had an absolute agreement with “Mr. Devlet.” Erdoğan, who led the first concrete plan to end PKK terrorism years ago through a “reconciliation process” told fellow party members that they discussed trustee appointments to municipalities and a “terror-free Türkiye, something we agreed upon.”
Earlier this month, the government appointed trustees to three municipalities whose mayors were convicted of membership in the PKK, while another mayor in Istanbul was suspended for his intricate links to the terrorist group. “We emphasized the strengthening the Türkiye’s internal front at a time of great threat to our region and our country,” Erdoğan told the AK Party meeting, media outlets reported.
The president, as well as Bahçeli, often highlights that Israel’s efforts to spread Palestine-Israel conflict to the wider region would eventually reach Türkiye. As a matter of fact, Bahçeli’s surprising call to Öcalan was part of these efforts of a united political front within the country against possible Israeli aggression. The PKK has strongholds in Iraq and Syria and Turkish security forces work to clear its presence from near Turkish borders.
Erdoğan said they have worked with Bahçeli since the “July 15 process,” referring to a coup attempt in 2016 by the Gülenist Terror Group’s (FETÖ) infiltrators in the army and that they had a “pleasant” meeting with Bahçeli. “We fully agree (on all issues). We have no differences. The People’s Alliance should be preserved. We should not allow those trying to incite strife among us. We never did so and continued on our paths by staving off attacks. You should be more sensitive about (the alliance),” Erdoğan told AK Party administrators.
The People’s Alliance was formally formed in 2018 with the MHP throwing full support behind the AK Party, especially in counterterrorism efforts. Smaller parties also joined the alliance, especially at times of elections, but the MHP remained a stalwart member. Bahçeli’s cryptic social media messages aside (such as repeated tweets of the “time is now” in an apparent reference to ending the terrorism once and for all and another referring to his “occasional loneliness”), the MHP is a strong supporter of the alliance.
Bahçeli himself called for constitutional changes recently to ensure that Erdoğan will run for president again in 2028. MHP’s deputy leader Semih Yalçın has denied a rift with the AK Party and told a journalist last week that neither Bahçeli nor Erdoğan had “any issues they cannot resolve,” dismissing the so-called rift as “rumors aiming to undermine the alliance.”
Bahçeli and Erdoğan held private meetings six times this year, both at the Presidential Complex and MHP leader’s Ankara residence. Despite his age-related illnesses that affected his posture, 76-year-old Bahçeli has always welcomed Erdoğan at the entrance of his residence, standing up. He was apparently not feeling well again during last week’s meeting, but MHP sources told the media that he accepted the presidential invitation anyway.