Unethical to accuse Fethullah Gülen over MHP crisis, says CHP deputy

Today's Zaman

It is wrong to accuse Muslim scholar Fethullah Gülen or anybody else over a recent scandal in the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), in which 10 senior party members were force to resign when anonymous individuals posted online sex-videos of three MHP members and threatened to post more if certain other party members didn't resign, CHP deputy Mustafa Özyürek has said.

Özyürek said the videos clearly showed that some circles in Turkey were attempting to shape politics in Turkey according to their own will. In response to a question on allegations whether Pennsylvania-based Gülen may be behind the release of the compromising footage, Özyürek said, “It is wrong to blame someone without proof. But such a respectable person as Fethullah Gülen who has opened countless schools in Turkey and across the world should not be accused in any way. I cannot fathom associating this with Fethullah Gülen and his movement.”

In related developments, MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli called on Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Friday to mobilize the government's resources to find those responsible for the online footage showing some of the party's members in inappropriate circumstances in a scandal that has so far resulted in the resignation of 10 senior members of the MHP.

Bahçeli spoke to the press on Friday after a visit to Ankara's Kızılcahamam district. In response to a question about the videos posted online anonymously, the MHP leader said the victims of the incident have filed criminal complaints with a prosecutor's office. He also criticized the prime minister, accusing him of exploiting the issue during his election speeches. “He should try to uncover who is behind this instead of speaking [about it] at rallies.”

The MHP has recently been trying to cope with the release of the sex videos involving its politicians. Last Saturday, MHP deputy chairmen Mehmet Ekici, Osman Çakır, Ümit Şafak and Ahmet Deniz Bölükbaşı, MHP Secretary-General Cihan Paçacı and MHP Presidency Council member Mehmet Taytak resigned from their positions and withdrew their candidacies for deputy posts in the June parliamentary elections. Earlier this month, four other MHP politicians -- Recai Yıldırım, Metin Çobanoğlu, Bülent Didinmez and İhsan Barutçu -- resigned from their posts after the release of illicit videos involving them.

In the meantime, Turkey's Telecommunication Directorate (TİB) has blocked access to two websites Thursday night for providing access to the MHP sex tapes after a ruling by the Ankara 14th Criminal Court of Peace on May 16.

Published on Today's Zaman, 27 May 2011, Friday