Turkey's opposition party MHP expels ex-deputy

ANKARA (AA) - A former deputy of Turkey’s opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), Meral Aksener, has been thrown out of her own party.

According to a statement issued Thursday by the chairman of the party’s disciplinary committee, Halil Ozturk, Aksener, who is said to be a vocal critic of the party leadership, had been expelled.

Aksener was accused of breaking certain provisions of the party’s constitution regarding cooperation, communication and mutual respect among party insiders.

Discharge proceedings against the former deputy and three other MHP members had been sent to the disciplinary committee on Aug. 16.

Ozturk said the committee would decide the fate of other three members later, the statement added.

A revolt among MHP members was sparked by last November’s general election, when the MHP narrowly got into parliament and won the least number of seats among all parliament’s parties, just 40 out of 550.

The party rebels have been fighting to remove Chairman Devlet Bahceli, who has led the MHP for nearly 20 years. The dissidents tried to call a party congress earlier this year, but they were blocked by the leadership.