At a party rally in Konya on Saturday Bahçeli claimed that Erdoğan was originally a Georgian while his wife, Emine, was an Arab. “So, what shall we call Bilal? His mother is an Arab; his father is a Georgian. So what is he personally?” the MHP leader asked.
“He [Erdoğan] gives examples from his own life. He says his wife is an Arab and that he personally is a Georgian who comes from Batum. And then he stirs provocation among 35 different ethnicities. Don't do this, esteemed prime minister, this is not right. This nation is living in fraternity,” he noted.
Turkey has for some time been witnessing dirty campaigns between politicians over ethnicity. Ankara Mayor Melih Gökçek recently claimed that the mother of Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu was an Armenian in an attempt to demean him. Similarly, CHP İzmir deputy Canan Arıtman said the mother of President Abdullah Gül is Armenian.
The MHP leader also commented on the approaching public referendum on a number of planned changes to the Constitution. He reiterated his claims that the changes are aimed at enabling the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) to seize control of the judiciary and to eventually prevent the trial of the prime minister by the Supreme State Council.
He also argued that the constitutional amendment package, which will be voted on in a referendum on Sept. 12, will open the door for the politicization of the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the establishment of an “independent Kurdistan” inside Turkey's borders.
