Turkey’s PM meets opposition party leaders of CHP, MHP

ANKARA (AA) – Turkey’s prime minister has discussed the ongoing fight against the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) and efforts to frame the country’s new constitution with leaders of two key opposition parties, a Prime Ministry source said Monday.

Binali Yildirim, who is also chairman of the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party, met opposition Republican's People Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu and Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahceli at the Cankaya Palace in Ankara.

The senior politicians discussed counter-terrorism operations in the country as well as developments in war-torn Syria and Iraq, the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the restrictions on talking to media, said.

During the three-hour long meeting it was pointed out the opposition Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) should make a clear stance against the PKK to avoid it getting mentioned alongside the terrorist organization, the source said.

This is the third such meeting in the past month after the July 15 deadly coup attempt.

On July 19, Yildirim met Kilicdaroglu and Bahceli separately at the Cankaya Palace.

On August 1, Yildirim again met Kilicdaroglu at the CHP headquarters and Bahceli at the parliament to discuss the decrees under the three-month state of emergency, which was declared following the foiled coup.

On August 7, millions of people gathered at Istanbul's Yenikapi Square in a spectacular display of unity that brought together ruling and opposition party leaders. The massive Democracy and Martyrs’ Rally was the first time in modern Turkey’s history that leaders of AK Party, CHP, and MHP as well as the chief of General Staff shared a platform.

Monday's "consultation meeting" was held in an effort to continue that spirit of unity, the source added.

Turkey's government has said the defeated coup, which left 240 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured, was organized by followers of Fetullah Gulen, who has lived in self-imposed exile in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania since 1999, and his FETO network.

Gulen is accused of leading a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police and judiciary, forming what is commonly known as the parallel state.