Nationalist Movement Party leader Devlet Bahceli has long been a fierce critic of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) and, like Erdogan, accuses it of ties to militants who have fought a 36-year-old insurgency in southeast Turkey., according to Reuters.

“The HDP must be closed and not reopened. No tolerance should be shown to any party organization that takes as its reference ethnic separatism and terrorism,” Bahceli said in a tweet on Wednesday, attacking the HDP for not signing a cross-party parliament statement condemning U.S sanctions on Turkey.

Turkish courts have banned pro-Kurdish parties in the past on charges of militant ties, drawing criticism from Turkey’s Western allies. But moves supported by Erdogan’s AKP have since made closing parties down more difficult.

Bahceli, whose party is the fourth biggest in parliament and whose comments in the past have appeared to influence government policy, suggested a change in the constitution, political parties law or the penal code if necessary.

“The fight with poisonous vermin is a wonderful service to national dignity. The fight with separatism is honorable support for our independence,” he said.

HDP co-leader Mithat Sancar responded on Thursday in an interview with Turkish broadcaster Fox TV, saying the HDP had the support of millions of people.

“Shutting the HDP means shutting down democracy in this country, it means silencing 6 million people,” Sancar said.

“In the past, six of our parties were closed down and what happened? If our party is closed, we will come back stronger.”

The Turkish government accuses the HDP, the third largest grouping the country’s parliament, of harboring sympathies for and acting in the interest of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), an armed group that has been at war in Turkey for almost 40 years.

Ankara has pursued a years-long crackdown on the group, jailing the party’s former co-chairs, among others, and dismissing elected mayors in the country’s southeast.

This is Bahceli’s second call for the closure of the pro-Kurdish party in less than a week.

The MHP leader on Wednesday also blasted the U.S. sanctions targeting Turkey over its purchase of the Russian S-400 systems.

"These sanctions are the manifestation of shame and a numb mind,’’ Bahceli said. "The MHP rejects and condemns these sanctions. There had never been sanctions applied to a NATO ally until now.’’

The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday imposed sanctions on Turkey over its multibillion-dollar acquisition of a Russian missile system.

The move places a ban on all U.S. export licenses and authorizations to the Turkey’s primary defense procurement entity, the Presidency of Defense Industries (SSB), as well as an asset freeze and visa restrictions on the head of the organization, Ismail Demir, and other top officers.

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