Develt Bahceli, head of Turkey's secular far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), sharply condemned President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's plans to switch Turkey from a parliamentary to a presidential system and become an "elected despot."
"We cannot cooperate with primitive mindsets that wish to benefit from a shift to a presidential system under the disguise of a new charter," said Bahceli at a press conference in Ankara, as reported by Hurriyet Daily News.
“Turkey needs a new charter, not an elected despot,” he emphasized.
The comment comes amid high concerns, after Erdogan earlier this month cited "Hitler's Germany" as an example of the "presidential system with a unitary state" that he wants Turkey to mimic.
Bahceli on Sunday noted that a change in the historical roots of administration systems is only possible through "a coup or a revolution," and called on Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP) to shelve its plans.
"We expect the AKP to put an end to its dreams of a presidential system, and (Prime Minister Ahmet) Davutoglu to refrain from being deceived by Erdogan,” Bahceli said.
The MHP head recently claimed that Davutoglu is "reluctant" to impose the change from a parliamentary to a presidential system, despite Erdogan's "insistence" that he comply.
Davutoglu late last month claimed that the new system "will not evolve into dictatorship," and in a reversal of Erdogan's citation of the genocidal Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, said, "Hitler’s Germany was born out of a parliamentary system" in an attempt to calm fears.
Nazi Germany's Reichstag was a ceremonial pseudo-parliament that served as a ratifying body for Hitler.