Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Chairman Devlet Bahceli has increased his personal attacks on Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, targeting his son, Bilal, in an ongoing row over ethnicity, Today’s Zaman reports.

At a party rally in Konya on Saturday Bahceli claimed that Erdogan was originally a Georgian while his wife, Emine, was an Arab. “So, what shall we call Bilal? His mother is an Arab; his father is a Georgian. So what is he personally?” the MHP leader asked.

According to him, Erdogan gives examples from his own life. He says his wife is an Arab and that he personally is a Georgian who comes from Batumi. And then he stirs provocation among 35 different ethnicities. “Don't do this, esteemed prime minister, this is not right. This nation is living in fraternity,” he noted.

Turkey has for some time been witnessing dirty campaigns between politicians over ethnicity. Ankara Mayor Melih Gokcek recently claimed that the mother of Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu was an Armenian in an attempt to demean him. Similarly, CHP Izmir deputy Canan Aritman said the mother of President Abdullah Gul is Armenian.