MHP leader meets jailed deputy in prison

ISTANBUL - Doğan News Agency

DHA photo

Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Chairman Devlet Bahçeli yesterday visited retired general and MHP deputy Engin Alan, who was sentenced to 18 years in prison as part of the Balyoz (Sledgehammer) coup plot case. Heading from Ankara to Istanbul, Bahçeli arrived at the MHP Silivri District’s Office at 1:15 p.m. “The decisions made by the [Istanbul] 10th Court for Serious Crimes must be justified and sent to the Supreme Court of Appeals as soon as possible,” Bahçeli told reporters after visiting Alan at Silivri Prison. He said they expected the high court to make a decision that would relieve society. Without such a decision Bahçeli hinted that Turkey would run out of patience with the judicial system.

According to Bahçeli, Alan was in good spirits. “Alan and his family are under the protection of God and Turkish nationalists,” Bahçeli said. “I pay my love and respects to the heroes of the Turkish Armed Forces, who received much heavier charges than expected within the Balyoz case,” he said. MHP Istanbul deputy and Deputy Parliamentary Speaker Meral Akşener, MHP Deputy Chairs Sadir Durmaz, Ruhsar Demirel, Reşat Doğru and Emin Haluk Ayhan accompanied Bahçeli during his visit.