The Turkish president accused the opposition of “causing riots” and “supporting terrorists”, Recep Tayyip Erdoganin his speech a week before the presidential elections in the country.
Erdogan hinted that his political opponents were the ones who instigated the confrontation on Sunday, when a crowd stoned one of the most prominent opposition figures in Erzurum, a stronghold of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).
Polls show Erdogan faces the biggest electoral challenge of his life in presidential and parliamentary elections on May 14. On Sunday, protesters threw stones to the mayor of Istanbul Ekrem Imamoglouwho comes from the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) and will take over as vice-president if the Kemal Kilicdaroglu win these elections.
Today, on the other side of the country, at a pre-election rally in Edirne, Erdogan, according to APE, accused the opposition of being “pro-LGBT” and “supporting terrorists”. Analysts say he is sharpening his rhetoric in a bid to win over conservative and nationalist voters.
The opposition is “shamelessly trying to discredit our cities by making a scene of its own provocation,” he said, without being directly quoted. in the Erzerum events. “They are looking for a pretext for their defeat in the elections, provoking and insulting people,” he added.
THE Interior Minister Suleiman Soylu he also accused the opposition of inciting the violent incidents in Erzurum. According to the minister, Imamoglu’s wife provoked the crowd because she had made the victory sign at another rally last week. This gesture, said Soylou, referred to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
“People in Erzurum are particularly sensitive to patriotic issues. If you go to these cities and provoke them, then God forbid,” Soilou said late Sunday night. Imamoglu participated in another rally today, in Iconium, which is also an AKP stronghold.
“Stones may be thrown at us, but we will answer with roses” he said. “The rioters will learn their lesson from the nation first at the polls and then they will be tried in independent courts for their crimes,” he added.
Source: News Beast
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