The report that enraged Bahçeli: Everyone will watch their step, know their limits

23.06.2026 11:30

MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli, speaking at his party's group meeting, reacted to the EU's report on Turkey, saying, "With what audacity does the EU lecture us? Europe cannot set a course for us. Everyone will toe the line, know their limits, and remember their place."

Speaking at his party's group meeting, MHP Chairman Devlet Bahçeli targeted the European Parliament's report criticizing Turkey on visa liberalization, judicial independence, democratic reforms, secularism, the Cyprus issue, and migration policies. Bahçeli reacted to the report by saying, 'Europe cannot set a course for us.'

'IT IS A TEXT DRAWN WITH A CROOKED RULER'

Stating that 'The European Parliament's 2025 Turkey Report is a text drawn with this crooked ruler,' Bahçeli said, 'A crooked ruler cannot produce a straight line. This report may not be binding. However, in terms of its political intent, it is a document that needs careful consideration. One of the most severe parts of the report is the attempt to blockade our judiciary. The insolent, perverse, and reckless language aimed at Turkey's judicial authority cannot be interpreted as ordinary criticism. Interpreting ongoing judicial processes with political motives and attempting to steer independent Turkish courts is an aspiration for tutelage, a desire for domination. The honorable Turkish judiciary does not make decisions under the patronage of reports written in Brussels' salons. The Republic of Turkey cannot be turned toward the West and brought into line through threats, insinuations, and disciplinary implications from external actors. Everyone will tread carefully, know their limits, and remember their place. Whoever dares to set standards for us from across the border will learn, one way or another, not to cast a sidelong glance at the freedom and sovereignty of the Republic of Turkey.'

Highlights from Bahçeli's statements:

'I am delighted to be with you once again under this blessed roof of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. I hope our meeting today brings fruitful outcomes and services that will benefit the future of our state. Dear comrades in cause, in foreign policy, sometimes a summit photo tells more than pages of reports. Sometimes it is a head of state arriving late at the table. Sometimes a casually phrased sentence, dressed up as coincidence, reveals the power domination that has been hidden, kept silent, and waiting its turn for years. Sometimes a parliamentary report, concealed behind friendly phrases remembered when the fire hits the roof, lays bare old hostilities sharpened like a knife with years of resentment and betrays intentions. We must see what is happening from this perspective.

'TRUMP SAYING, "I AM THE BOSS"'

In France, G7 leaders came together. The summit's agenda items were quite extensive on paper. The fragile course of the global economy trapped between bombs dropped and signed agreements, the deepening gap the Ukraine War has created in European security, the uncertainty looming over energy routes through the Strait of Hormuz and the course of global trade, and irregular migration concerns tied to political and economic developments are all compressed into the same photo frame. However, overshadowing all these heavy agendas, U.S. President Trump's words, 'I am the boss,' upon entering the working meeting, left a mark. This is not a casually spoken phrase; it is a revealing confession pointing to the power balance at the G7 table, the security dependency weighing on Europe's shoulders since World War II, hidden by all these glamorous Western praises, and the true nature of transatlantic relations. These words signal the distorted reality behind the curtain of shared values and the power display laid before our eyes through the mirror of truth.

'EUROPE STILL CANNOT EMERGE FROM WASHINGTON'S SHADOW'

Europe has been talking about strategic autonomy for years. Yet, this same Europe has still not been able to extract its own defense, political, and economic architecture from Washington's shadow. The statements of the NATO Secretary General are clear. This same Europe is now pondering how to fill its own security gap in a period when the U.S. has announced reductions in its military contributions in Europe. What a striking contradiction: Europe has been trying to give Turkey lessons on democracy, law, security, and foreign policy for years, persistently circulating accusations wrapped in report covers, threats adorned with sanction implications, and the stale clichés of anti-Turkish and anti-Turkey opposition. In other words, Europe has seen the crack in its own wall but has not abandoned its eagerness to nail reports on Turkey's door.

'WITH WHAT MIND WILL EUROPE SET STANDARDS FOR THE TURKISH STATE?'

To cover its own weaknesses and incompetence, it tries to stitch a curtain over its mistakes from report fabric, embroider pressure with thread of accusation, and patch its double standard decay with human rights ballads. However, from this patched-up bundle, neither truth emerges, nor justice, nor will to chart a course for Turkey. Let those lost in delusional slumber hear well. Let those standing guard in animosity open their ears and listen. The tailor who will shape the Turkish nation has not yet been born. Our ancestors did not say in vain, 'He who mounts another's horse dismounts quickly.' Those who have entrusted their own security and governance to another's horse for years are now beginning to realize that the reins are not in their own hands. With such a face, how will this Europe attempt to lecture Turkey? With what mind will it presumptuously set standards for the Turkish state? With what audacity will it extend its tongue toward our noble nation's values and our state's institutions? How can those struggling to close their own security gaps dare to question the security policies of the Turkish state while being kept waiting at alliance tables?

In European capitals, they have flown the rags of treacherous terrorist organizations that aimed their barrels at Turkish soldiers for years. They have willingly opened their arms to FETÖ remnants who targeted the lives of the Turkish nation. While becoming a wall in front of our children who go for education and are to return, while our entrepreneurs wanting to grow their businesses established in Turkey count the days until they leave for Europe, they have pricked up their ears at the slightest word spoken against Turks and Turkey. They have become nests and homes for sedition networks. Do those who turn a blind eye to the poisonous tongue of enmity have the face to pass judgment on Turkish nationalism? Do those floundering under migration pressure on their own continent have the right to give humanity lessons to Turkey, which has opened its doors to millions of oppressed for years? Do those who have tied their own security to the decisions of the United States have a say to object to our Blue Homeland ideal and our clearly evident maritime jurisdiction areas in the Eastern Mediterranean?

'WE WILL MEET THE FOREHEAD OF ANYONE WHO TRIES TO OBJECT'

Here, this wretched picture before us is clear, no longer open to interpretation. Today, on one side of this picture stands Europe, forced to acknowledge Turkey's weight within NATO, its rise in the defense industry, its role in migration management, its position on energy routes, and its geopolitical value stretching from the Black Sea to the Caucasus and from the Eastern Mediterranean to the Middle East. On the other side stands Europe, targeting the Turkish judiciary, slandering our beloved Ülkü Ocakları (Idealist Hearths), scorning our Blue Homeland cause, and ignoring the sovereign equality of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and the existence of Turkish Cypriots.

The history of Turkey-Europe relations is also full of these contradictions. Turkey's relationship with Europe did not begin yesterday. The application process that started in 1959 gained a legal basis with the 1963 Ankara Agreement. The 1970 Additional Protocol, the 1995 Customs Union, the acceptance of candidate status at the 1999 Helsinki Summit, and the start of negotiations in 2005 are milestones on this long road. However, instead of fully fulfilling its promises to Turkey, the European Union has surrendered the process to the narrow calculations of some members, Greek-Greek Cypriot vetoes, political prejudices, and rusty ideological templates. Visa liberalization has been delayed for years. The updating of the Customs Union has been taken slowly, at a snail's pace. Negotiation chapters have been blocked for political reasons. Candidate country status has often been left on paper. Since 2018, negotiations have effectively come to a standstill. Now the same European Parliament dares to lecture Turkey on reform, law, and good neighborliness. What kind of blindness is this? What kind of lawlessness is this?

"TURKISH JUDICIARY. "

As the Prophet Muhammad advised us, keeping promises is a part of faith. Those who have not received a share from the light of Islam, who have turned their backs on the merciful climate of justice, and who express their centuries-old prejudices against the Muslim Turkish nation at every opportunity—how would they know about loyalty? How will we explain the honor of words to those who remain silent when our mosques are attacked, who market vile provocations against our holy book, the Quran, under the guise of freedom of expression, who ignore the struggle of our headscarved women to live their faith, and who watch with pleasure the rising Islamophobia in European cities as mischief-makers? How will those who let the Greek Cypriot side into the European Union as the representative of the entire island in Cyprus understand respect for rights? A straight line cannot come from a crooked ruler. The European Parliament's 2025 Turkey Report is a text drawn with such a crooked ruler. This report may not be binding. However, in terms of the political intention it carries, it is a document that needs careful attention. One of the most serious parts of the report is the attempt to put our judicial power under blockade. The insolent, perverse, and heedless language of misguidance extended to Turkey's judicial branch cannot be interpreted within the scope of ordinary criticism. Interpreting ongoing judicial processes with political motives and attempting to direct independent Turkish courts is a desire for tutelage, a lust for domination. The supreme Turkish judiciary does not make decisions under the protection of reports written in Brussels salons. The Republic of Turkey cannot be turned towards the West and brought into line through threats, insinuations, and disciplinary implications from external actors. Everyone will watch their step, know their limits, and remember their place. Whoever tries to impose standards on us from across the border will learn, one way or another, not to cast a sidelong glance at the freedom and sovereignty of the Republic of Turkey.

"THE ÜLKÜ OCAKLARI IS BEING TARGETED"

Dear comrades of the cause, the expressions directed at the sacred hearth where we all grew up, at the Ülkü Ocakları, which is the light of our eyes and the comfort of our hearts, in the European Parliament report are also an old enmity dressed in new guise. This issue is not new. Yesterday, there were those trying to open a file against the Ülkü Ocakları in Washington. Today, there are those attaching the same smear campaign to report lines in Brussels. Yesterday, in the United States House of Representatives, an audacious article stipulating an investigation into whether the Ülkü Ocakları is a terrorist organization was attempted to be inserted into the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act. Today, our Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey has also deplored this initiative, clearly declaring that it is a biased attempt woven with baseless accusations, unbecoming of the deep-rooted alliance law, and staged by anti-Turkey lobbies also in Europe.

The target was the same then, and the target is the same today. Although the capitals of the podiums from which the remarks are made change, their intentions have not changed. We are aware of the efforts to criminalize Turkish nationalism, to detach Turkish youth from their national and spiritual values and render them rootless. The Ülkü Ocakları, the unique home of Turkish youth who see loyalty to the state as their duty, never lack love for the flag and homeland in their hearts, and maintain a stance as upright as the letter 'elif' against terrorism, is being put on the target board in European public opinion. Let it be known that the Ülkü Ocakları is a sacred school that keeps the three-thousand-year march of the Turkish nation alive in young hearts, uniting wisdom with faith and courage with morality. The Ülkü Ocakları is not the home of stubborn children, but of Anatolian children who hold their heads high. In the Ülkü Ocakları, there is the wisdom of Hoca Ahmet Yesevi, the knowledge of Hacı Bektaş-ı Veli, the sagacity of Dede Korkut. In the Ülkü Ocakları, there are the footprints of the great Turkish march extending from Bilge Kağan to Kürşad, from Sultan Alparslan to Fatih, from Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk to our late Leader Alparslan Türkeş. Neither yesterday's Washington-based global evil lobbies nor today's Brussels front of animosity can cover this truth. Those who want to understand the Ülkü Ocakları should look at these lines pouring from the heart of Turkish youth: "To be one whose heart beats for the flag, to be one who adds their soul to the homeland, in short, to be a true person, we learned the cause in our hearth." As Ziya Paşa said, one's work is their mirror; words don't matter. The deed of the European Parliament is clear. In their mouths, there is the lie of freedom and democracy; in their lines, there is imposition disguised as law; in essence, there is opposition to Turks and Turkey. The shutter of this market of lies will be brought down sooner or later.

"THOSE WHO TRY TO LECTURE TURKEY ON CYPRUS CANNOT COVER THE TRUTH"

Dear comrades of the cause, the stance taken by the European Parliament report under the headings of Cyprus and the Blue Homeland is a new act of an old account extending to the seas. There are still those today who harbor Byzantium's deadened ambitions like embers in their palms, who still seek a future in the discarded maps of the Megali Idea thrown into the dustbin of history, who try to extract new hostility items from the worn-out notebooks of Greek-Greek Cypriot expansionism. In their minds, the conquest of Istanbul is an unhealed wound, the sovereign equality of the Turkish Cypriots is a truth condemned to denial, the Aegean Sea is a diplomatic ambush to corner Turkey, and the Eastern Mediterranean is a geopolitical puzzle decorated with cheap fabrications. This mentality, which tries to portray the Blue Homeland as aggression, the Turkey-Libya Memorandum as lawlessness, and the Turkish Cypriots' demand for sovereignty as separatism, still keeps alive the dream of breaking the Turkish nation's will in the seas and confining it to the Gulf of Antalya. But neither history has been written as they wished, nor has geography been drawn according to their whims.

The Turkish nation is not of a disposition to leave its own rights to words that will dribble from between the lips of others.The roots of the Cyprus issue are deep. Since the 1950s, the dream of Enosis has cast a dark shadow over the island. EOKA terror targeted the lives, property, existence, and future of the Turkish Cypriots. The 1960 Partnership State was rendered inoperative in a short time due to the Greek Cypriot side's unwillingness to see the Turks as equal founding partners. The Akritas Plan sought to destroy the political equality of Turkish Cypriots; the dark Christmas of 1963 was one of the most painful pages of the genocide policy directed against the Turkish presence on the island. Turkish Cypriots lived under siege for years. Villages were burned, hearths extinguished, children orphaned, and mothers left in tears. By 1974, the knife was at the bone, and Ayşe went on vacation. Turkey exercised its right arising from the guarantor law and, through the Cyprus Peace Operation, became the guarantee not only of the Turk but also of peace and balance on the island.

"TURKEY IS NOT A SPECTATOR IN ITS OWN SEAS"

Those who still ignore this history and try to lecture Turkey on Cyprus cannot cover up the truth. Those who market the dream of Enosis in Cyprus under the guise of self-determination, those who try to whitewash EOKA terror with the makeup of an independence struggle, those who attempt to present the bloody account of the Akritas Plan as a detail, and those who disregard the resistance of Turkish Cypriots from 1963 to 1974 cannot give us lessons in humanity today. Let no one ask us to surrender the cause of Turkish Cypriots to formulas eroded at negotiating tables, prolonged stalling, and the endless games of the Greek Cypriot side. The name of truth in Cyprus is two nations, two states, and two separate sovereign wills. History has recorded in all detail the sufferings we endured for this cause, the dark nights of 1963, and how the Rubicon was crossed in 1974. Those who try to open up for debate Turkey's effective and actual guarantorship, which is not open to discussion on a legal basis, have either forgotten or want to make us forget our existential struggles in these lands. We have not forgotten. And we will not let you forget. We did not abandon the Turkish Cypriots to the mercy of the EU's blind partiality and the endless insolence of the Greek-Greek Cypriot duo. We will not abandon them. The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is the forward outpost of the great Turkish nation in maritime geopolitics, the keystone of our national security on the southern front, and an integral part of our Blue Homeland horizon. Turkey is not a spectator in its own seas. Turkey is not a state to be confined to a guardhouse on its own shores. The Sea of Islands is an area of sovereignty, security, and national dominion. The Eastern Mediterranean is the blue door of Anatolia, the living space of Turkish Cypriots, the epicenter of energy equations, and the triangulation point of our maritime jurisdiction areas. Blue Homeland is the consciousness of the National Pact at sea. The unchanging mistake of the Greek-Greek Cypriot duo throughout history has been misreading Turkish patience. They mistook the Turk's silence for timidity, the search for diplomacy for weakness, and the desire for peace for retreat. They have been wrong every time. They are wrong today as well.

"IT SHOULD NOT BE FORGOTTEN THAT THE ZIONIST CENTER WILL NOT TURN INTO A PEACE ANGEL OVERNIGHT"

The Hormuz agenda at the G7 table and the Iran agreement in the United States complete this big picture. The agreement reached between the US and Iran covers topics such as the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, lifting the naval blockade, the dilution and disposal process of Iran's nuclear stocks under IAEA supervision, frozen funds, cessation of military operations on various fronts including Lebanon, and setting a calendar for a final deal. However, objections to this agreement in the US Congress also show that there is a turbulent and painful ground within US politics itself that is not even clear. Despite all this chaos in the international world, we are closely watching the opening of the negotiation door between the US and Iran, the start of agreement talks hosted by Switzerland, and discussions on safe passage in the Strait of Hormuz, lifting the naval blockade, and stopping fire in the Lebanon field. We evaluate this as a positive development for the peace of humanity. However, the real issue is the fulfillment of promises made at the table. It has been observed that Israel's attacks on Lebanon overshadow the agreement process, and Iran has issued an explicit warning that negotiations may stop if these attacks continue. We certainly value developments regarding the cessation of attacks by Israel in areas not under occupation in Lebanon. But it should also not be forgotten that the Zionist terror center, which has turned the region into a bloodbath, will not turn into a peace angel overnight. For this reason, we view the matter with caution. The ceasefire in Lebanon must be permanent and cover the entire territory of the country. The memorandum of agreement must be implemented to the letter, and safe passage in Hormuz must be ensured without interruption. We must calmly monitor what every tremor from Hormuz to the Eastern Mediterranean, starting in Lebanon and echoing in the United States, means for our national security and regional stability. Those who signed the Iran Nuclear Deal in 2015 withdrew from the same deal in 2018. Those who said sanctions yesterday are talking about lifting sanctions today. Those who said naval blockade yesterday are discussing safe passage in Hormuz today. Those who coded Iran as an absolute threat yesterday are announcing a 60-day final agreement calendar today. We will not go to market with the scales of those who say white to what they called black yesterday, who hold high what they dragged through the mud yesterday, and who embrace those they ambushed yesterday; we will not settle our accounts with their ledger.

"AMERICA, IF YOU ARE A MOUNTAIN, CHASE AWAY THE SPARROWS"

We look at the world from Ankara, read the world in Turkish, and determine our future in the light of yesterday in Turkish. It is Turkey that hosted the Istanbul talks in the Ukraine War, maintained the balance in the Black Sea, preserved the sensitivity of the Montreux regime, and kept diplomatic channels open to prevent the spread of regional war while contributing to Ukraine's defense capacity. It is Turkey that pays a price on the ground to ensure border security in Syria, break the terror corridor, and create the ground for the return of millions of refugees. It is Turkey that reads the new geopolitical page, from the Turan Corridor that will bring the Europe-Asia connection to life to the Eastern Mediterranean, where it was wanted to be left out of energy equations but has asserted its presence both on the ground and at the table. Turkey is the country where no pen is moved in either the Sea of Islands or the Eastern Mediterranean without Turkey having the final say. Those who write reports for Turkey without seeing all this look at the map but cannot see us. They do not know us. They cannot predict our next move. They cannot grasp our horizon. The lack of insight Europe has fallen into due to its arrogance is as clear as day today. The era of throwing mud at the Republic of Turkey, the Nationalist Movement Party, the Grey Wolves, our Blue Homeland cause, and our policies regarding our daughterland the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, while expecting strategic cooperation from Ankara, has long since ended.{"text":"Brussels can shake its pen as much as it wants. What is heard from Ankara is only the echo of insolence. The wolf likes foggy weather, but not every ambusher should consider themselves a hunter. Those setting traps for Turkey must know well that they might get caught while hunting. Turkey will continue to walk its own path, with its own mind, its own will, and the grace of Almighty Allah. Our wind is at our back, our sail is set, our compass is clear, our intention is serious, and our oath is the future. Under the dome of the sky, in eternal Turkish homeland Anatolia, in the just cause of the Turkish Cypriots, and in every drop of the Blue Homeland, we will exist forever. Now I address those who say, 'I am the boss' for the American-Zionist cooperation. If a sparrow lands on a mountain, what does the mountain gain? If a sparrow leaves the mountain, what does the mountain lose? America, if you are a mountain, chase the sparrows away!"}"