Devlet Bahceli, Nationalist Action Party [MHP] leader...

Devlet Bahceli, Nationalist Action Party [MHP] leader and deputy prime minister, declared that embarking on a road based on the notions of blackmail and surrender in Turkey's ties with the EU will prepare the ground for more excessive demands pertaining to these matters to be presented to Turkey. Bahceli, who met MHP deputies in Ankara, said: "The excessive weakness demonstrated in this area has given hope for the future not only to the EU but also to the PKK [Kurdistan Workers' Party]. The separatist terrorist threat is not yet over in Turkey. The abolition of the death penalty at this time, given the real dimensions of the situation, has practically rewarded the separatist terrorist organization and its supporters, and encouraged them in terms of the future. As we all know, the terrorist organization PKK has adopted a new political strategy aimed at attaining through political means the objectives it failed to achieve through the use of force in the past. Accordingly, forcing at first the abolition of the death penalty in a bid to bring about the release of the terrorist chief [Abdullah] Ocalan in the future is at the top of these objectives. By abolishing the death penalty, people have knowingly or unknowingly collaborated in the realization of this priority objective set by the PKK."