20.10.2026 05:10
Doğan Bekin, Istanbul MP of the New Welfare Party, criticized the party leadership, arguing that Deputy Chairman Suat Kılıç’s book portrayed Necmettin Erbakan as the “architect of February 28.” Asked whether he would resign from the party, Bekin replied, “All duties and responsibilities belong to our Chairman. If the necessary steps are not taken, we will chart our own course.”
Doğan Bekin, Istanbul MP of the New Welfare Party, criticized the party leadership at a press conference he held at the Turkish Grand National Assembly for remaining silent in the face of statements directed at Necmettin Erbakan, the founder of the National Outlook movement. Recalling his statements made on September 30, 2026, Bekin stated that he had previously called on General Chairman Fatih Erbakan and the party's Central Decision and Management Board.
REACTION TO SUAT KILIÇ'S BOOK
Bekin said that Suat Kılıç, the party's Deputy General Chairman, made severe accusations against Necmettin Erbakan in his book “The Last Ispartan,” which recounts the February 28 process. Arguing that the background of the people who were removed from their ministerial posts by the then Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on December 25, 2013, during the December 17-25 process, and who joined the New Welfare Party, is revealed in this book, Bekin spoke as follows:
“These individuals, who recount the February 28 process in the book ‘The Last Ispartan,’ have portrayed the Welfare Party as the center of religious exploitation and our esteemed leader, Prof. Dr. Necmettin Erbakan, as the architect of February 28. It is quite obvious that the slander and insult in the book in question, accusing the esteemed Erbakan of acting unprincipledly during February 28, is nothing but FETÖ rhetoric, stuck like a rusty dagger in the heart of every member of the cause who identifies himself as a National Outlook follower.”
Bekin said that his previous press conferences were not answered directly; instead, an attempt was made to respond through a text titled “Being a Person of the Cause and Understanding Erbakan.” Arguing that this attitude “amounts to a confession through interpretation,” Bekin also claimed that a character assassination was being carried out against him.
MENTAL PARALYSIS OUTBURST IN THE LEADERSHIP
Recalling that October 29 is Necmettin Erbakan's 100th birthday, Bekin said, “The fact that those who use a treasonous sentence such as ‘Erbakan is the architect of February 28’ still take part in the leadership shows the mental paralysis in which the New Welfare Party finds itself.”
Bekin said, “The party leadership's attempt to dismiss the matter with perfunctory statements by calling it a ‘difference of opinion’ is an attitude as ignorant as trying to plaster over the sun with mud,” and called on everyone raised within the National Outlook movement to “Make your voices heard loudly.” Bekin used the following statements: “It is not the wagon that pulls the National Outlook train, but the locomotive. The locomotive is our esteemed General Chairman, Fatih Erbakan. The attempt to remove the party from its main structure and render it spineless by taking advantage of his courtesy stands before us as a document of shame.”
RESPONSE TO RESIGNATION QUESTION
In response to a journalist's question, “Are you considering resigning from your party?” Bekin replied, “From now on, all duties and responsibilities belong to our esteemed General Chairman. We expect him to take the necessary steps. If the necessary steps are not taken, of course we are continuing our consultations with everyone, and we will set our course accordingly.”