Justice central to state legitimacy: Bahçeli

ANKARA

Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli has said a state that its citizens do not regard as fair may secure obedience but not loyalty, arguing that justice is central to state legitimacy.

Bahçeli made the remarks in an interview with daily Türkgün published on July 31.

“The state does not protect its citizens only from external dangers, but also from attacks that may come from within,” Bahçeli said.

“Its first objective in maintaining order must be to uphold justice.”

He described law and justice as both the reason for the state’s existence and the means through which it derives legitimacy.

“If people do not believe the state treats them fairly, obedience to a system established to protect them may be secured, but loyalty cannot,” he said.

A social and political order lacking such loyalty would become highly fragile during even minor periods of instability, weakening state institutions and disrupting their functioning, Bahçeli added.

The MHP leader also outlined his vision for Türkiye’s second century, saying the state should maintain security, prosperity and public order while continuing the country’s development.

Bahçeli praised steps taken by the Organization of Turkic States toward a common Turkic alphabet, describing language as central to a shared cultural outlook.

“To build a language is to build a world,” he said.