MHP Chair Bahçeli calls Turkish Medical Association officials 'enemies of Turkey'

Photo: AA

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Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Chair Devlet Bahçeli, an ally of President and Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has reiterated his wish for the closure of the Turkish Medical Association (TTB) for "praising terrorism."

"With God's help, Turkey will overcome this trouble with the minimum damage. What has been done until today is reassuring for the future," he told his parliamentary group, adding that Minister of Health Fahretin Koca was "successful" in the fight against the pandemic.

Bahçeli also called the government to shut down the association last month.

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"I believe that the measures that are taken and the moral of reliance [on God] melting in the same pot will break the power of the virus," said Bahçeli.

"For us, those who attempt to cast doubt on the Ministry of Health data are a chorus of slanderers," he added.

Minister Koca on Friday (October 2) admitted after the revelation of a ministry document that they were not including the number of asymptomatic Covid-19 cases in the daily patient count.

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Health workers' organizations, including the TTB, have disputed the official figures since the start of the outbreak in Turkey.

"Our problem is a handful of enemies of Turkey who have nested in the central committee of the TTB. Our problem is with a small minority who praise terrorists. This is why I say the TTB should be closed," Bahçeli remarked.

"Terrorist Demirtaş"

Bahçeli announced support for the "Kobani investigation" against the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), in which 17 senior politicians from the party have been remanded in custody.

"The separatist lowlifes who took our people to the streets in 35 provinces and 68 districts and caused the death of 53 people should be given the heaviest sentence," he said.

"Terrorist Demirtaş [Selahattin, former HDP co-chair] has the main responsibility of these incidents," he added.

Bahçeli also announced support for Azerbaijan in the clashes with Armenia over the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, or Upper Karabakh.

Calling Armenia "a murderous state," Bahçeli said it was acting as "a pawn of imperialist powers." (AS/VK)