28 Gülen-linked conglomerates support Akşener, MHP deputy chairman claims
The deputy chairman of the National Movement Party (MHP), Semih Yalçın, has claimed that 28 holdings affiliated with Fethullah Gülen, the fugitive leader of the shady Gülen Movement, directly support the leading dissident candidate Meral Akşener in her run for MHP chairmanship. "There are 28 Gülen-affiliated holdings and businessman supporting that person [Akşener]," Yalçın told a local media outlet Tuesday. "The main aim of the dissident candidates and their supporters is to take over the MHP and discredit [it]."
Referring to Sunday's emergency convention attempt by MHP dissident candidates and their supporters amid conflicting court orders, Yalçın said: "What happened Sunday was, unfortunately, an attack on the MHP. They were engaged in such an activity to discredit the MHP in the public eye, to create the image that there is huge strife within the MHP, to give the impression that the MHP is splitting up and cracking with a huge piece of it breaking off."
"Anyone who was there on Sunday knows the name that is the closest to ‘parallel structure' [Gülenist] among the chairman candidates. I don't want to name names" he said in reference to Akşener, adding: "Even the expenses of this person are being supported by certain businessmen. Twenty-eight holdings or businessmen support her. This has been confirmed by us. Many of them are included in this structure. They support it very seriously. They make their schedules. They are being told what they have to do. There is such a systematic campaign in the background."
The Gülen Movement is under investigation by Turkish authorities under suspicion of forming an illegal organization with cadres in the judiciary and the police, to topple the government through false evidence and illegal wiretapping.
Referring to Sunday's emergency convention attempt by MHP dissident candidates and their supporters amid conflicting court orders, Yalçın said: "What happened Sunday was, unfortunately, an attack on the MHP. They were engaged in such an activity to discredit the MHP in the public eye, to create the image that there is huge strife within the MHP, to give the impression that the MHP is splitting up and cracking with a huge piece of it breaking off."
"Anyone who was there on Sunday knows the name that is the closest to ‘parallel structure' [Gülenist] among the chairman candidates. I don't want to name names" he said in reference to Akşener, adding: "Even the expenses of this person are being supported by certain businessmen. Twenty-eight holdings or businessmen support her. This has been confirmed by us. Many of them are included in this structure. They support it very seriously. They make their schedules. They are being told what they have to do. There is such a systematic campaign in the background."
The Gülen Movement is under investigation by Turkish authorities under suspicion of forming an illegal organization with cadres in the judiciary and the police, to topple the government through false evidence and illegal wiretapping.