11th Nationalist Movement Party Ordinary Congress
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The 11th Nationalist Movement Party Ordinary Congress (Turkish: 11. Milliyetçi Hareket Partisi Olağan Kongresi) was a political party convention held by the Turkish right-wing Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) on 21 March 2015. The Congress resulted in the re-election of Devlet Bahçeli as party leader, with rivals failing to obtain enough signatures to contest the leadership election.
The congress was held on 21 March 2015, which was significant due to the close proximity to the general election held on 7 June 2015. Furthermore, the Congress coincided with Newroz, the celebration of the Iranian new year by Kurdish people in Turkey. As a Turkish nationalist party, the holding of the Congress on the same day as the Newroz celebrations was seen as significant. MHP Deputy Leader Semih Yalçın stated that the timing was not a coincidence, stating that as Newroz was seen as the beginning of Spring, the MHP congress would also be seen as a new liberator from 13 years of Justice and Development Party government.
According to Habertürk journalist Muharrem Sarıkaya, the MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli decided to hold the congress on the same day as Newroz to divert media attention away from the mainly Kurdish-populated city of Diyarbakır, where the bulk of the Newroz celebrations were due to take place. When giving his speech, Bahçeli began wishing members well for Newroz and Newroz celebrations were also widespread at the congress.
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Wikipedia