In the video clip, MHP deputy chairmen Recai Yıldırım and Metin Çobanoğlu are seen chatting with women in a room. During the conversation Yıldırım tells one of the women that he would like to see her in the Muslim headscarf. “This is my hobby [to look at women wearing the headscarf]. I would be aroused if I saw you in such attire,” Yıldırım says, while Çobanoğlu is seen laughing.
Yıldırım also insults rightist voters, saying a rightist voter is someone who is “round.” “A round voter is one who rolls in every direction [meaning they do not vote according to strict principles, but may vote for any rightist party]. May God damn them all,” he adds.
Only hours after the video clip appeared on a number of websites, both deputy chairmen announced their decision to resign from their posts on Wednesday. They also withdrew their candidacy for deputy in the June 12 general elections. MHP Secretary-General Cihan Paçacı announced that his party would not announce new candidates in lieu of Yıldırım and Çobanoğlu. After an election rally in the northwestern province of Bolu, MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli told reporters that “his party would not give credit to a video clip scandal,” and declined to respond to questions.
MHP parliamentary group deputy chairman Mehmet Şandır, on the other hand, expressed support for Yıldırım and Çobanoğlu, saying the video clip was part of a plot targeting the MHP. Turkey is no stranger to scandals triggered by video clips posted online. A video clip allegedly showing former Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal having an affair with a party deputy was posted online in May of last year. Baykal subsequently resigned from his post as a result of mounting criticism. On Thursday, a number of MHP supporters attacked Yıldırım’s vehicle as he arrived at the party headquarters to collect his belongings. A group of angry men attacked the vehicle, smashing its windows and slashing its tires.
In the meantime, leaders of the Alevi faith responded harshly to Yıldırım’s remarks in the video clip about Alevis. “Alevis are not Muslim. They play the saz [a stringed instrument] in cemevis [Alevi places of worship] and do other things,” Yıldırım said. Alevis found Yıldırım’s remarks insulting, saying he committed a hate crime.
Hacı Bektaş-ı Veli Anatolian Culture Foundation President Ercan Geçmez said he found Yıldırım’s remarks offensive, but was not at all shocked to hear them. “This is the classic MHP we all know. Nevertheless, the remarks constitute a hate crime. They show the ugliness in the MHP mindset [about Alevis]. I call on all Alevis who plan to vote for the MHP to reconsider and I call on the Turkish nation to show sensitivity toward Alevis,” he said.
