Turkey's MHP calls Russia's tit-for-tat a 'scandal,' stresses support for ruling AKP

Strongly defending the legitimacy of Turkey's downing of a Russian warplane by Turkish jets along the Syrian border last week, Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli has labeled Moscow's retaliatory moves against Turkey a "scandal."

"Looking from the point of view of international law, Turkey has the right to protect its land, sea and air borders. This right will never be abandoned. The Russian Federation is certainly unfair and evil-minded," Bahçeli told reporters on Dec. 1.

"The Putin administration's cooling of relations with Turkey, its expectation of an apology, its demands for compensation, its demand for the punishment of so-called criminals responsible, and its resorting to economic sanctions, are a scandal," he added.

Relations between Ankara and Moscow have been strained since a Turkish jet downed a Russian fighter that violated Turkey's airspace on Nov. 24. Turkey has said the recent Russian bombardments in Syria were not targeting the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) but the Turkmen minority in the north of the neighboring country. 

Bahçeli had already declared his support for the government of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) on the issue last week.

"Turkey should defend to the end its kin, its borders and its rights that derive from its statehood. The Nationalist Movement Party will not leave the AKP government without support on this issue," the MHP leader said in a written statement on Nov. 26.

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