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Bahçeli steps up criticism against Kurdish initiative
“The prime minister is still unaware of the danger he is dragging the country into. Viewing the [Kurdish] initiative as a project of brotherhood fools the public. Everyone should be honest on this issue. It is a project of treachery aimed at dividing Turkey,” Bahçeli stated in a press conference he held yesterday.
The MHP leader has always stood in opposition to ruling Justice and Development Party's (AK Party) plans to settle the long-standing Kurdish problem with a comprehensive democratization package and has accused Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of empowering ethnic minorities in Turkey, thus dragging the country to the brink of division.
“The prime minister's project belongs to the Kurdistan Workers' Party [PKK.] He is working for a project supported by the United States. This is a project of separatism by [Iraqi President Jalal] Talabani and [Iraqi Kurdish leader Massoud] Barzani,” argued Bahçeli.
The MHP leader said viewing the Kurdish issue as a matter of ethnic identity would legitimize efforts to divide the country based on the ethnicities of its residents.
“Acts of terror have increased by 15 times since the AK Party was swept to power. The AK Party has refrained from taking deterrent measures against Barzani. This party has always claimed that terror cannot be eliminated through armed conflict and has boosted the courage of the separatist organization,” Bahçeli remarked.
Bahçeli also spoke against the possibility of allowing schooling in the Kurdish language, a demand Turkey's Kurds have long voiced.
“The AK Party is laying the groundwork for [the use of] languages other than Turkish. This is a constitutional crime. The Kurdish initiative is a project to destroy the Republic of Turkey. This is what the prime minister is getting ready for,” he said.
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