Şandır was responding to reporters in the southern province of Mersin before the end of ceremonies to mark Aug. 30, Victory Day, about the Justice and Development Party's (AK Party) plans to solve Turkey's long-standing Kurdish problem with a democratic initiative.
“If you grant political freedoms to all the ethnic groups in Turkey, whose number is claimed to be 36 by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, then you will turn Turkey into a hell of minorities. Unfortunately, Turkey is today being dragged to a very dangerous point due to a reckless act by the AK Party,” Şandır said. He claimed that solutions found for problems of ethnicity will lead to polarization and division in the country, warning that Turkey may even be divided at the end of the solution process.
“We are ready to discuss Turkey's problems; however, if you try to discuss these problems on the basis of a single ethnic identity, you will divide the country. The AK Party and particularly Prime Minister Erdoğan want to create national minorities in Turkey. The Kurdish initiative and democratic initiative projects are unfortunately the result of the EU's impositions,” Şandır said.
The MHP is one of the strongest opponents of the Kurdish initiative and claims that the project is aimed at dividing the country.
In the meantime, MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli on Saturday continued to direct criticism at the government over the Kurdish initiative and warned that his party was ready to take action and sacrifice their lives to counter the “insidious plan.” “We should foil this insidious plan. We should save the nation from the situation they are in. We can overcome all the obstacles alone,” said Bahçeli.
