Erdoğan targets IMM in Samsun: Compares it to 1994

President and AKP Chairman Recep Tayyip Erdoğan spoke at his party's rally at Samsun Republic Square.

Here are the highlights from Erdoğan's speech:

"We have hope of reaching the workers trapped under the soil at the mine in Erzincan alive.

I convey my best wishes to our citizens and workers. Thousands of people are participating in the search and rescue efforts.

I am pleased to be with you once again today. In both elections in May, my brothers and sisters in Samsun showed their favor for me with a 62 percent vote rate.

"THEY WOULDN'T CARE IF THE WORLD ENDED"

For us, looking down on the nation or attempting any work against the will of the nation is never an option. The CHP, which possesses the mentality of 'they will vote whether they like it or not' from the single-party era, continues in the same way. They have become so embroiled in a struggle for self-interest among themselves that they wouldn't care if the world or their country ended. They have no dreams, no programs, and no projects for the future of the nation.

From their old and new chairmen to their mayoral candidates and those who could not become candidates, their only agenda is to seize control of the CHP after the elections. In this pursuit, they do not hesitate to trip each other up or dig each other's graves. They are stabbing those they walked with yesterday in the back today.

CRITICISM OF ISTANBUL IN SAMSUN

Turkey had to pay the heavy price for the 5-year CHP mentality that lasted until the 1994 elections for many years. Words are not enough to describe the scene we encountered when I was personally elected to the IMM. Istanbul was full of trash, mud, and pits. Today, the pitiful state of our cities due to the CHP's ideological exploitation is evident."