Erdoğan targets CHP again: 'Turkey needs a main opposition party free from tutelage'

AKP Chairman and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan spoke at his party's 33rd Consultation and Evaluation Meeting held in Sapanca.

Stating at the beginning of his speech that his party has communicated directly with the nation since its foundation, Erdoğan said, "We have never been a cadre that speaks through intermediaries, neither within ourselves nor with our nation. We have not been a cadre that speaks to our nation through intermediaries. We have placed special importance on keeping horizontal and vertical communication channels open. We have expressed our thoughts freely. We have strived to find and implement the most correct policy for our party and the success of our struggle through common sense."

Stating that all citizens of the Republic of Turkey have equal rights, Erdoğan said, "In this country, no one who holds the identity of the Republic of Turkey is a guest, a tenant, a refugee, an 'other,' or a stepchild on this homeland," and added, "This state is not the state of a faction, a mass, a certain group, or a certain origin; it is the state of all 86 million people living on these lands."

STATEMENTS REGARDING HEADSCARF DEBATES

Touching upon allegations of social polarization, Erdoğan argued that the struggle for the headscarf they waged in the past was carried out on the basis of freedom.

Erdoğan made the following statements:

"While we were waging the struggle for the headscarf, we were never after privilege, segregation, polarization, marginalizing others, or interfering with their freedoms. Some ignorant fossils emerge and spew hatred at those wearing headscarves. These specimens, which are on the verge of extinction, are supposedly teaching women a lesson. Turkey has left this issue behind."

"We have not harbored hostility toward anyone just because they think differently from us. No one can harbor hostility toward us just because we think differently from them. No one can discriminate against us in our own homeland, nor can they lecture us with an arrogant tone. This is neither anyone's place nor their right."

"TURKEY NEEDS A MAIN OPPOSITION PARTY FREE FROM TUTELAGE"

Continuing his speech with criticisms directed at the CHP, Erdoğan claimed that the main opposition party benefits the most from political tension.

Stating, "It is the CHP that has been profiting from the tension that turns political competition into hostility and turns differences of opinion into conflict from the very beginning," Erdoğan said that they are not a party to the internal debates within the CHP.

Voicing the claim that the opposition receives support from 'foreign powers,' Erdoğan said, "An opposition that does not derive its strength from its base or its voters, but from certain foreign powers that have designs on Turkey, will not bring benefit to Turkey, but harm. It is extremely clear that Turkey needs a main opposition party that is free from all kinds of tutelage."

"WE ARE READY FOR CONSENSUS ON NATIONAL ISSUES"

Touching upon the second opening process, referred to in public opinion as a "Terror-Free Turkey," Erdoğan stated that the AKP and the People's Alliance are ready to act together.

Erdoğan said, "As the AK Party and the People's Alliance, we are ready for consensus on national issues, primarily foreign policy and security, and especially the Terror-Free Turkey process."