Bahceli says they'll scrap 1916 treaty by "anti-terror" campaign

The leader of the far right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), partner in the ruling bloc, said that the time has come to question the borders "imposed" by the Sykes-Picot agreement in 1916, and that "scrapping the map of Sykes-Picot" is now a prerequisite for Turkey's national security.

Addressing MHP's parliamentary group at the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TBMM), Devlet Bahceli said on Tuesday:

"The time has come to rip the map of Sykes-Picot to shreds. The time has come to question the geographies that have been imposed. It is a prerequisite, a responsibility for our national existence and our national security to fill up the unfathomable wells opened up by the colonialist mentality that is accustomed to sitting at a desk and drawing border lines with a ruler. The head of the separatist terrorist group shall be severed through aerial bombing from Qandil to Ayn al-Arab, and through a sweep-up on land."

Stating that they have nothing to hear from countries who are not faithful to their promises, Bahceli added:

"A wolf's neck is thick because it takes care of itself. This thickness inspires a feeling of security for the friend, as it inflicts fear in the foe. We are capable of cutting off our own umbilical cord. We cannot remain silent, against any terrorist group within our borders and outside our borders. We never did, and we never will."

Bahceli's remarks about changing the current borders in the region have not led to any immediate reaction among political parties in Turkey.

The Sykes-Picot Agreement was a 1916 treaty between the United Kingdom and France, with consent from Moscow and Rome, to define their mutually agreed spheres of influence in an eventual partition of the Ottoman Empire. The agreement essentially served as a basis for the delineation of the borders of Syria, Iraq and Jordan, while it left Kurds driven apart by the borders of different countries.