MHP leader: I know of FETO members in our party

By Emin Avundukluoglu

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey’s opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader said on Thursday there were Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) members within his organization.

In a televised interview on Turkish channel NTV, Devlet Bahceli said: "There are certainly civil wings of coup plotters [besides soldiers] who should also be revealed.

“I know of FETO members in our party. There are some FETO members in our party, and also [among] those who left our party,” he added.

The Turkish government accuses FETO and its U.S.-based leader Fetullah Gulen of orchestrating the defeated coup of July 2016, which left 249 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured.

Ankara has said FETO is behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police and judiciary.

In response to question on whether Turkey still faces the threat of a coup, Bahceli said: "As long as the determination [to fight against FETO] continues, I do not see any risk of it."

- Terrorism

Bahceli also said his party would continue to support the Justice and Development (AK) Party government in fighting terrorism.

He said: "The Nationalist Movement Party gives support to the current political power in fighting against terrorism, for the stability of the country and for Turkey's stance against any threat from Syria and Iraq, by any means."

Bahceli's remarks came after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's and Prime Minister Binali Yildirim's criticism of northern Iraq's Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) for flying its flag at public buildings in Kirkuk.

Bahceli said: "If they [AK Party government] continue this determination, we will continue to give support as the MHP."

At the end of March, 26 Kurdish members of Kirkuk’s provincial council voted in favor of raising the Kurdish regional flag -- alongside Iraq’s national flag -- outside the city’s public buildings and institutions.

However, the Iraqi parliament in Baghdad rejected the move, saying only Iraq’s national flag should fly over the city’s public institutions.

Kirkuk’s population is comprised mainly of Arab, Turkmen and Kurdish inhabitants.