UPDATE - Referendum can settle constitution debate: Turkey's MHP

UPDATES WITH MORE QUOTES FROM BAHCELI

By Alp Ozden

ANKARA (AA) – Opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahceli has called for a referendum to settle the debate about Turkey’s new constitution and presidential system.

Addressing a parliamentary group meeting of his party in Ankara Tuesday, Bahceli said: "The MHP is on the side of continuation of [Turkey’s] parliamentary system, while it is revised and reformed.

"I trust in Turkish nation. I believe a healthy and rational result will come out if the AK Party submits a bill about the constitutional changes to the Turkish parliament, [where it] would pursue our sensitivity and principle."

Constitutional change, in particular, the call for a presidential system, has been on the political agenda since Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the former prime minister and AK Party leader, was elected Turkey's president in August 2014. That election was the first time a Turkish president was directly chosen by popular vote.

Bahceli also said presence of Turkish troops at Iraq’s Bashiqa Camp in Iraq was vital for Turkey’s own future.

"Bashiqa is one of the key points of our future. Abandon it, return it by evacuation [of Bashiqa Camp] means nightmare [for Turkey]," he said.

He said Turkey should exercise its right to self-defense when it comes to Bashiqa. "Whether the Iraqi Prime Minister [Haider] al-Ibadi accepts it or not, the dignity and honor of being a big state requires it."

A long-standing Turkish training camp in Bashiqa, located 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) northeast of Mosul, has been training Peshmerga and Sunni Muslim militias in the months leading up to the attack on Iraq’s second city.

Bahceli also backed the Turkish government in the ongoing Mosul operation against Daesh in Iraq. "Turkey should not be a mere spectator in the Mosul issue, it should not stay behind and should not watch it [the situation] from the tribune."

He added his speeches should also not be misunderstood as a war cry. "All means of diplomacy should be definitely used."

The Iraqi army and Kurdish Peshmerga forces launched a much-awaited operation late Sunday to retake Mosul – the last Daesh stronghold in northern Iraq, which was overrun by the terrorist group in 2014.