14.04.2026 13:36
Nationalist Movement Party Chairman Devlet Bahçeli said regarding the by-election discussions, 'There is no by-election. It is election time. It is the will of the Turkish nation. That will must be upheld.'
At his party's Parliamentary Group Meeting, MHP Chairman Devlet Bahçeli made important statements regarding the agenda and then answered questions from the press members.
"THERE IS NO BY-ELECTION, IT IS ELECTION TIME"
Responding to a question about the CHP's by-election rhetoric, Bahçeli stated, "There is no by-election. It is election time, and it is the will of the Turkish nation; we must respect that will from now on."
Highlights from Bahçeli's statements in the party group:
"The fact that the war that began with the joint air strikes by the United States and Israel against Iran on February 28, 2026, was seen to be tied to a two-week ceasefire on April 7 does not mean the crisis is over. This ceasefire is a temporary pause that allows the parties to review their positions at a point where they have not achieved their strategic and fundamental objectives. The ground for a permanent solution is quite weak. Ending the war and achieving peace is far from being an attainable goal. Today, we must read the picture presented as a ceasefire with state seriousness. Because even the ceasefire itself has become a tool of a power struggle. We see that there is not a finished crisis, but only an arm wrestling that has changed form.
"INCONCLUSIVE NEGOTIATIONS..."
The inconclusive negotiations in Islamabad have further strengthened the possibility of regional conflicts evolving into global destruction. Just as uncontrolled and unchecked power competition and the ambition for armament cause bombs to explode in the Middle East today, tomorrow they will pave the way for even greater destruction in the heart of Europe, at the nodal points of Asia, and in the fragile basins of Africa. Humanity, shaken by the global pandemic in 2020, has been relentlessly tossed by the Ukraine-Russia war, disrupted trade security in the Red Sea and Black Sea, the humanitarian drama in Gaza, the destruction in Lebanon, and the crises erupting in Ethiopia, Sudan, and Somalia. In a world where India and Pakistan have confronted each other along the Kashmir line, and where today the Pakistan-Afghanistan tension in Pakistan has turned the lives of tens of thousands upside down, thinking that the fire will be limited to a single region is a dangerous delusion. In such a period when the possibility of World War is being pronounced more loudly, the immediate establishment of a World Peace Council mechanism under the leadership of United Nations Secretary-General Mr. Antony Kuvvertes, with the participation of the USA, the Russian Federation, the People's Republic of China, Turkey, and the European Union, is a historical necessity in the name and account of humanity.
"TURKEY IS READY TO PUT ITS HAND UNDER THE STONE"
The manifestation of a new global will based on justice, balance, and fairness, not the ambiguous understandings that carry the word peace but actually enlarge war, is now inevitable. Turkey, with the responsibility imposed by its history and the mission dictated by its geography, is ready to put its hand under the stone. The aphorism of Gazi Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, "Peace at home, peace in the world," will determine the route of every step we take and the direction of all paths we walk, as it did yesterday, so it will today.
While a temporary deceleration is experienced on the Iranian front, the Lebanese front is kept open. The loss of life in the air strikes carried out by the Israeli army on Lebanon shows that Zionist calculations have no intention of leaving Lebanese territory. The screams in Gaza find an echo in Lebanon today.
Israel's attacks violating Lebanon's sovereignty and territorial integrity must be stopped immediately. It is seen that Israel's attacks targeting regional countries like Syria, Iran, and Lebanon have increased, and imperialist activities under US guidance and support have intensified across a wide geography. Israel is the sole and real responsible party for this war. The inability to operate a pressure mechanism on Israel is the fundamental problem of the international system. How the aggressions of the United States' spoiled child are tolerated and even sometimes encouraged exposes the double standards of the global world.
These lands we live on are the thousand-year-old Turkish homeland.
Today, being a Turkey that can produce and consume what it produces is a geopolitical necessity, a national requirement, and a matter of historical dignity. In the chaotic period our world is going through today, in an environment where climate pressures are increasing, water crises are growing, agricultural production can be turned into a geopolitical weapon, and logistic lines are becoming fragile, seeing agriculture only as a matter of economic efficiency is shortsightedness.
"THE PROBLEM OF OVERTIME IMPOSED ON OUR POLICE CANNOT BE NEGLECTED"
The living conditions of our security personnel brothers cannot be ignored. The problem of overtime imposed on our police cannot be neglected. Guard duties with blurred boundaries and a constant state of alert place a very heavy burden on the shoulders of our police. In this context, police suicides must not be overlooked. It is not possible for us to ignore any of our police brothers who are tired by long working hours, worn out by psychological pressure, carrying the burden of loneliness, and crushed under the intensity of duty. The Turkish police are not alone. Agriculture is national resilience. Agriculture is the will to protect our tomorrows from today. Agriculture is a fully independent, strong, and great Turkey. The Turkish Nation will not go door to door in times of crisis. It is not a nation that will live by the grace of others, waiting for a helping hand to be extended. The Turkish Nation is a great nation that has risen with its own labor, written history with its will, and broken through famines with its sweat, and it will remain so until the Day of Judgment.
What falls to us is not to estrange the land. What falls to us is not to leave the farmer alone. What falls to us is to make dominant the policies that sustain the peasant, who is the master of the nation, not the ones that empty the village.
In this meaningful period when we commemorate the 181st anniversary of the establishment of our Turkish police organization, we are obliged to talk not only about the historical adventure of an institution but also about the existence of a vital vein that ensures the continuity of the state, an unseen but felt power, a silent but unshakable will.
The Republican People's Party should not be eager to confuse Turkey with the confusion in its own structure. There is no by-election; it is election time, and it is the will of the Turkish Nation. That will must be respected from now on."