Nationalist movement partys variable policies towards to the justice and development party between 2002-2020

The Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), which is one of the most established parties in Turkey and governed the country as a coalition partner after the 1999 elections until the elections of November 3, 2002, was founded on August 14, 2001 and gained 363 deputies in the early general elections held on November 3, 2002, in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. Political relations between the Justice and Development Party (AK Party), which entered the Turkish Grand National Assembly for the first time, started in this period. MHP, which had very harsh discourses and policies towards the AK Party from 2002 to 2016, started to get closer to the AK Party after the July 15 coup attempt and supported the AK Party in its fight against the Fettullah Terrorist Organization (FETO), which planned the coup attempt. MHP, which made a critical move in the 2017 Constitutional referendum that envisaged a change in the government system, acted together with the AK Party and formed an alliance under the name of "People's Alliance" in 2018. The two parties held rallies together and participated in the 2018 general elections and 2019 local elections as an alliance. Some circles attributed this change in MHP to the extraordinary congress process that took place in MHP in 2016. Stating that MHP Chairman Devlet bahçeli was responsible for the decrease in MHP's vote rate and number of deputies after the 1 November 2015 general elections, the opponents collected signatures from the delegates and applied to the court to organize an extraordinary congress. It was stated that Devlet bahçeli got closer to the AK Party in order to protect his seat due to the extraordinary congress process in MHP. MHP Leader Devlet Bahçeli stated that the reason for this change was that he supported the AK Party as a result of the national consensus for the survival of the country after the July 15 coup attempt. Examining the reason for this change in MHP reveals the importance of the research. In this research, by examining the important political events that took place in society and the country's agenda between 2002 and 2020, it was tried to determine whether there was any change in MHP's policies and discourses towards the AK Party. By conducting a literature review on the subject of the research, MHP Chairman Devlet bahçeli's TBMM Group meetings, written and oral press statements, rallies and TV programs were examined, and academic sources, newspapers and news sites were used. In the conclusion part of the research, the reasons for MHP's variable policies were tried to be explained.