MHP: Election board now one with Erdo?an

Turkey?s High Election Board (YSK) is under the influence of President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an and, like him, is not impartial ahead of the June 7 general election, Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli has said, after the YSK rejected claims that Erdo?an was breaching the president?s constitutional impartiality.

?The YSK is living inside the aquarium of Erdo?an. All that it breaths is Erdo?an,? Bahçeli told a group of journalists in the Ilgaz town of the Central Anatolian province of Çank?r? on May 6.

Commenting on the board?s recent decision to reject claims that Erdo?an has been breaching the constitution by supporting the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in his recent speeches, Bahçeli said no one but Erdo?an could describe those speeches as impartial.

?So the YSK and Erdo?an have become identical,? he said, adding that those responsible would be ?held to account in the future.? 

Meanwhile, Bahçeli pledged that his party will turn Ak Saray, the much-debated new presidential palace in Ankara supported by Erod?an, into a museum to the founder of the Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. 

All opposition parties have formulated different ideas for the controversial 1,150-room palace, with the main opposition Republican People?s Party (CHP) vowing to donate it to Ankara?s prestigious Middle East Technical University (ODTÜ). 

MHP head Bahçeli also criticized Erdo?an?s use of religious discourse in his public rallies. 

He said that netting more than half of the votes, as Erdo?an did in Turkey?s presidential election on Aug. 10 last year, did not give anyone the right to exploit the state for political goals. 

The AKP?s Ankara Mayor Melih Gökçek also received his share of...