Separatist kebabists

Separatist kebabists (Turkish: bölücü kebapçılar) is a term used by Devlet Bahçeli in one of his speeches to describe kebab sellers and other vendors who allegedly "support terrorism" by charging high prices for their products. The speech was made fun of by social media users.

Speech

Bahçeli criticised the rising prices and unemployment in Turkey and attributed the responsibility to vendors in his speech.

I do not criticize but agree with those who are sincerely whining about the increase in egg, meat, milk and cheese prices, and the unscrupulous sales of these products at unreasonable prices. We are pursuing the speculators. We hold the looters, who covet the citizens' purse, accountable. We support the effort to completely eradicate this. But it is our duty to remind those, who exploit the efforts of our citizens and instigate this disorder, the pathetic price of terrorism. Separatist kebabists [kebab vendors] aiding and abetting terrorism are responsible for the unemployment.

Reactions

Ahmet Davutoğlu, chairman of the DEVA Party, punned on the speech saying that "simit and car vendors are anxious brooding on who is to be the next target [of Bahçeli]." Cengiz Gökçel, a MP from CHP, criticised the speech saying that "the real terrorists are the ones who cause the purchasing power [of the currency] reduce and the unemployment increase." The speech also caused widespread reaction on Twitter.