MHP accuses PM of conducting psychological warfare to cover graft claims

The Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) has accused Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of carrying out “merciless, wild and treacherous” psychological warfare against the nation in order to cover up allegations of corruption and bribery his Justice and Development Party (AK Party) has been facing.

MHP Secretary-General İsmet Büyükataman released a written statement on Thursday in response to recent allegations from Erdoğan who said the MHP is collaborating with Pennsylvania against his government. The prime minister's statements came during a rally in the eastern province of Ağrı on Wednesday ahead of a re-run of a municipal election there on Sunday.

With Pennsylvania, Erdoğan refers to Turkish-Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, who lives there, and the Hizmet movement inspired by Gülen.

In his statement, Büyükataman said Erdoğan makes a speech about the so-called parallel state and Pennsylvania wherever he goes, and he did the same in Ağrı.

Erdoğan and his supporters use the term “parallel state” or “parallel structure” to refer to the Hizmet movement, claiming that the movement is behind a corruption probe which became public on Dec. 17, extending to the government. The Hizmet movement is a grassroots movement based on voluntary participation aimed at fostering interfaith dialogue and tolerance, with a particular emphasis on education.

“According to the prime minister, gangs nested within the state, heads of illegal organizations took action to target the AK Party government and Turkey,” Ataman said, adding that Erdoğan attacks the Hizmet movement with insults such as “raving Hashishin,” which was a medieval order of assassins, “virus,” “false prophet,” “blood lobby,” “curse lobby,” “fake scholar” and “sex video manufacturers.”

Büyükataman said with perception management operations devised at the Prime Ministry, there are efforts to hide lies, bribery, corruption and safe boxes found at the homes of several ministers' sons.

The sons of three ministers were briefly detained in the corruption investigation and police found safe boxes and banknote counters at their homes.

The MHP secretary-general said Erdoğan also turns a blind eye to millions of dollars that were found in shoeboxes in the house of former Halkbank General Manager Süleyman Aslan, who was among the dozens of individuals detained as part of the graft probe.

Police found $4.5 million in Aslan's house. The police found the huge amount of money concealed in shoeboxes in Aslan's home library and confiscated it. Aslan reportedly had a wiretapped telephone conversation with his wife in which she notified him in code about the arrival of the money at their house.

Büyükataman also criticized Erdoğan for introducing Iranian businessman Reza Zarrab, a key suspect in the corruption probe, as a “benevolent businessman,” although he said this man took some ministers and their sons as his hostages by bribing them.

Büyükataman said Erdoğan even defends former EU Minister Egemen Bağış who, according to his leaked phone conversations, received bribes in chocolate boxes and insulted Islam's holy book, the Quran.

With regard to the tapes of a phone conversation between Erdoğan and his son Bilal, in which Erdoğan asked Bilal to “zero” the money in his house, Büyükataman said Erdoğan also denies the authenticity of these tapes, claiming that they are fabricated.

‘Joint presidential candidate AK Party's nightmare'

In his statement, Büyükataman also said efforts launched by MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli to nominate a joint presidential candidate who will represent the opposition parties frighten the AK Party government a lot.

Bahçeli has been touring opposition parties to reach an agreement on the joint presidential candidate.

The AK Party has not yet announced its presidential candidate, but Erdoğan is very likely to run for the top state post.

Büyükataman said Bahçeli's efforts demoralized Erdoğan, who had taken winning the presidential race for granted.

“We think the person who will be the president should acknowledge the Turkish nation mentally and morally and should be loyal to the presidential oath. It is not the shadowy circles of the AK Party that should decide who will be president, but the Turkish nation,” he said.

Published on Today's Zaman, 29 May 2014, Thursday