Tape Scandals in Turkey.. New Tool in Politics
The Nationalist Movement Party, or MHP, was hit with a third wave of “tape scandal” on Saturday with the release online of more R-rated footage of two senior party members with young female university students.
MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli harshly responded to the incident Sunday, saying those who engage in immoral acts and have moral weaknesses would not stay in the party.
Speaking at his party’s election rally in Istanbul, Bahçeli also suggested the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, and the Gülen religious community might be behind the release of the footage.
“We will eliminate those who act in opposition to our principles. Some already known factors are trying to eliminate our party, which stands as an obstacle before them,” Bahçeli said, implying that he would ask for the resignation of the MHP officials involved.
Republican People’s Party, or CHP, leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, likewise held the government and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan responsible for the incidents during his election rally Sunday in the Central Anatolian city of Niğde.
“Mr. Recep’s new hobby is to watch below-the-belt tapes and use them [politically]… If some illegal things take place and if some phones are wiretapped, then it is you, Mr. Recep, who is responsible for that,” Kılıçdaroğlu said.
Commenting on the issue, Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç said the government did not support the revelation of people’s private lives.
“There may some who plan to benefit from such things but we don’t make our politics via ugly things such as tapes or their publication. We don’t wonder about people’s private lives,” he said.
The images, which allegedly show deputy party leader Bülent Didinmez and former Istanbul Provincial Chairman İhsan Barutçu, were recorded with hidden cameras, as was the case in former incidents, according to media reports.
Similar footage released last month allegedly showed MHP deputy leaders Metin Çobanoğlu and Recai Yıldırım kissing two women after talking about topics ranging from the upcoming June 12 general elections to sexual fantasies.
Following the release of the tape, Yıldırım and Çobanoğlu resigned from their posts and as deputy candidates for the election upon the request of Bahçeli, who also urged other party officials to resign in advance if they suspect similar plots against them.
It was claimed after the scandal broke out that eight more tapes exist with similar footage of MHP officials.
Bahçeli earlier said such plots were staged by those who want to eliminate the MHP from the scene ahead of the election, also calling on the AKP government and the prosecutor’s office to reveal the incidents.
The party was hit with a second “tape scandal” at the beginning of May, when more R-rated footage of two deputies was posted online that featured many women, including a 16-year-old minor.
May 8, 2011
SOURCE: Hürriyet Daily News
