The Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), a key partner in the ruling bloc, marked its 57th anniversary on Feb. 9 with an event in Ankara, where party leader Devlet Bahçeli reaffirming his commitment to the government’s "terror-free Türkiye" initiative.
"With our independent conscience, peace-loving mindset and immense commitment to Turkish history and culture, we have left behind 57 years of history," Bahçeli said during his speech at the event, themed “57th Year with Glory and Honor.” President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan sent a wreath to the ceremony.
Bahçeli reiterated his commitment to the anti-terror project, of which he is a key architect. "We are determined to prevent fratricidal conflict. The MHP is ready to pay whatever price is necessary for this," he said.
"The Turkish nation, with its Turks and Kurds, will carry its victorious past into the future. This will be accomplished, even if it costs us our lives."
The peace initiative gained momentum last year after jailed PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan issued a call that prompted the terror group to begin disarming. In July, a first batch of members burned their weapons, and the organization later announced it was withdrawing from Turkish territory in late October.
"Our sole source of strength is the pure conscience and heart of the Turkish nation. The Nationalist Movement Party will reject and condemn to oblivion the hybridized, controlled, so-called nationalist parties," Bahçeli said.
"Opening the founding principles of the Republic to debate and trying to destroy them based on ethnic differences is equivalent to attacking the existence of the state."
A parliamentary commission overseeing the initiative has been working to combine submissions from political parties into a unified document.
Founded in 1969 under the leadership of Alparslan Türkeş as a successor to the Republican Peasants Nation Party, the MHP entered parliament in that year with 3 percent of the vote. Its influence grew through the 1970s until the party was dissolved after the 1980 military coup.
After several name changes and political bans, the party returned as the MHP in 1993, with Türkeş resuming leadership. Following Türkeş’s death in 1997, Bahçeli took over the party leadership.
Under Bahçeli, the MHP experienced fluctuating electoral fortunes, peaking at nearly 18 percent of the vote in 1999, and later forming alliances with the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). In the 2023 general elections, the party received around 10 percent of the vote and holds 47 seats in parliament.
