Bulletin de liaison et d'information - Institut kurde de Paris

to
grovvth
of Turkic association exceeds 800
Alpaslan Türke~. It was clear that the nationalist séntiment,
free from state control, was \'eering towards
the MHP. A conspicuous manifestation of which was
at the funeral ceremonies of those killed by the PKK. .
At one point, things seemed to have gallen out of
hand when the people of Erzurum started moving
towards the Kurdish-dominated section of the city.
When security forces proved insufficient, authorities
had to ask the MHP provincial organization for help.
It was MHP officials that finally stopped the angry
crowd.
How large has the
MHP grown?
In the !!eneral elections of 1989, just before the
PKK stepped up its terrorist campaign, the MHP °arnered
4.5 percent of the vote. Before th~ gener~1 elections
of 1991, the party formed an alliance wIth the
Welfare Party (RP) and Reformist Democracy Party
(IDP). This prevents an accurate numerical estImation
of its vote.,rhe a.lliance won 16.8 pe,rcent?f lhe vole.
MHP \lfficlals saId 7 percent was the MHP s.
rhe MHP administration commissioned a public
opinion poll in November. The results revealed that
tlie MHP would
eoarner 6.66 of the vote. About at the
same time, another poll conduct~d by the Yeni
Dü~ünce newspaper saId the MHP enJ?yed an \ I percent
support, excludino the KurdIsh-domInated
Southeast. However, pofIs conducted after the TV
program have indicated a great increase in the support
for the party. Accordin!! to such polls. 18 percent of
Turkish voters now say they wi~1 vo~e .for .~he MHP.
The percentage of those that beheve It IS Turke~ who
can put an end to PKK terrorism is as hi!!h as 31.
Asked his estimate, Türke~ says he expects a "little
over 10 percent,"
"That means we won't have to fonn a temporary
alliance with any other party to break throu!!h the 10
percent barrier erected before us by the election law,"
he adds.
Türke~ believes that the Grand Union Party (BBP),
formed by seven breakaway MHP deputies, wiII not
manage to "stea\'" votes from his MHP.
"Because basicall~ they are all by themselves. The
provincial organizatIOns they set up afterwards have
already started uniting with us," he says.
Another striking example indicating MHP growth
is the sudden interest Turkish businessmen have
recently developed in the MHP leader. At a number
of meetings, wealthy
ed Türke~ for such
business tycoons have appl~ud-
statements as the follOWIng:
''Turkey is suffering problems relating to education,
Türke~ says staff so large MHP even helps out other parties, Deputy Chairman
Müftüoglu argues their cadres fully in control in Turkish bureaucracy
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