CHP reacts to Tom Barrack from AKP: 'Why are they not saying anything?'

CHP Deputy Chair and İzmir MP Gökçe Gökçen, in a statement shared on social media, reacted to the fact that AKP officials remained silent regarding the expressions used by US Ambassador to Ankara Tom Barrack toward Turkey at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum.

Gökçen stated that President Erdoğan and his cabinet are harsh in their rhetoric against citizens, the opposition, or differing opinions, yet no response has been given to Barrack's outbursts.

Gökçen included the following statements in her post:

"There is no response from Erdoğan, his ministers, or his party officials—who insult the citizens of this country and attack the opposition every day—to Tom Barrack's insolent words. A complete silence prevails. Barrack says, 'You are inadequate; what do you need democracy or a Republic for? You need a monarchy here.' Silence from them. Barrack says, 'We are the ones providing the legitimacy Erdoğan needs.' Silence. Barrack says, 'The polemic between Israel and Turkey is just a polemic. It is nothing.' Silence. Their Foreign Ministers say, 'Erdoğan is begging to have a 5-minute meeting with Trump.' Silence. They cannot open their mouths against them. They cannot, because nothing has changed there since the March 1 memorandum."

In her statement, the CHP's Gökçen argued that the government's silence when it comes to the US and Western countries stems from an approach that has not changed from the past to the present.

BARRACK'S COMMENTS AT THE FORUM

Speaking at the Antalya Diplomacy Forum, US Ambassador to Ankara and Special Representative for Syria Tom Barrack made the following assessments regarding governance models in the Middle East:

"Why does Syria work? Because there is a strong, determined, and courageous leader. People may not have agreed with him in the past, but they see him leading toward a goal. If we look at the Gulf example; we see that these countries are quite successful and that the benevolent monarchies there yield results. The only thing that has worked in the Middle East has been strong leadership regimes: either benevolent monarchies or constitutional monarchy-type structures. The countries we have gone after in the name of human rights, wearing the cloak of democracy, have failed."