Fatih Erbakan's remarks likely to anger Erdoğan: 'What has been tried once will not be tried again'

New Welfare Party (YRP) Chairman Fatih Erbakan made evaluations regarding the current agenda.

Speaking on NOW TV, Erbakan said that as the YRP, they are against Kanal Istanbul.

"KANAL ISTANBUL IS A HUGE RENT-SEEKING PROJECT"

Emphasizing that they have also prepared a booklet explaining why Kanal Istanbul should not be built, Erbakan stated the following:

"We view Kanal Istanbul as a huge rent-seeking project, a project to create rent. It has damages it will cause to the environment, ecology, and water basins. Furthermore, you are going to increase Istanbul, which has reached 16 million, to 20 million, and you are going to further depopulate Anatolia. Whereas, on the contrary, we need to ensure the flow to Anatolia and rural areas. You are going to bring 20 million people and place them in a first-degree earthquake zone.

Instead of investing in employment, production, and exports, you are dealing with Kanal Istanbul. It is a harmful and unnecessary project in every respect. As the New Welfare Party, we have also published a booklet on why Kanal Istanbul should not be built. We see that while there is unemployment and an earthquake danger, these issues should be dealt with instead of Kanal Istanbul."

REACTION TO IMAMOGLU AND OZDAG

Emphasizing justice through Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, who is being held in Silivri Prison, and Victory Party Chairman Ümit Özdağ, Erbakan asked, "Mr. İmamoğlu received half of the votes in Istanbul; there is no way he will flee. It would have been better if he were released under judicial control. We also emphasize that there should be a fair trial free from political influence. But research conducted in Turkey shows that 70 percent of the public no longer trusts the judiciary. We, of course, have our doubts about this matter as well. Another issue is Ümit Özdağ. Did he kill a man? Did he establish a terrorist organization? Did he carry out an armed action?"

Erbakan continued his words as follows:

"In other words, we really do not see a situation that requires him to be tried while in custody. We may not agree with his ideas, we may not approve of many of them, but we must respect freedom of expression. Even if our views are different, we must be determined that justice should be applied to everyone. These processes are being compared to February 28, but we think there are somewhat harsher practices compared to February 28. Taking someone from their home at dawn for morning prayer and trying them in custody is a harsh method."

CLOSED THE DOORS TO THE PEOPLE'S ALLIANCE

YRP leader Fatih Erbakan, who withdrew his presidential candidacy in the elections on May 14, 2023, and joined the ranks of the People's Alliance to support AKP Chairman and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, said that they will not join the People's Alliance again.

Saying "We do not regret the process on May 14," Erbakan continued as follows:

"We thought that if we could get the structure currently in power to accept our principles and ensure they are implemented as soon as possible, we would provide a benefit to the nation. The nation is in urgent need of these, and we were of the opinion that a structure already in power should implement them. We have tried this. If we hadn't tried, it would have remained on our minds. However, unfortunately, they did not act sincerely; they did not fulfill this. They were in a state of being cornered to win the election. We set the consensus and said we support it under these conditions. But unfortunately, they did not fulfill this.

Currently, because they did not fulfill these conditions, workers, civil servants, and retirees are in a miserable state. From now on, we have two clear stances. One is regarding the fact that we will no longer be together with the People's Alliance. Because what has been tried once will not be tried again. We tried it once, and there was no sincere approach. The probability of encountering the same result is very high. At the same time, we state that our presidential candidacy is also clear.

Because we withdrew from the candidacy in favor of Mr. Erdoğan once, but we will not do such a thing again. This would not be a correct approach either politically or logically. As the chairman of the party, as someone aspiring to govern Turkey, I have stated that I will be a presidential candidate."

News Source: 12punto