UPDATE - Turkey's opposition party MHP expels ex-deputy

UPDATES WITH AKSENER’S COMMENTS

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey’s Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) decided on Thursday to expel from the party former parliamentarian and party chairman candidate Meral Aksener.

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

Aksener reacted to the developments with her own statement, saying the decision to expel her “is null and void” in her eyes and she vowed to appeal the decision in court.

She said the decision taken by “a management whose legitimacy is questionable has no consideration in Turkish people’s conscience.”

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, including party-chairman candidate Aksener, 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.