Turkish opposition leader says Erdogan wants war with Syria
Turkey’s main opposition leader, Kemal Kilicdaroglu of the Republican People’s Party, says that the Turkish prime minister is bent on provoking war with Syria to divert attention from government corruption.
“The world’s most immoral man is currently occupying the Turkish prime minister’s seat. He wants to drag Turkey into a war against Syria.”
This was how the leader of Turkey’s secular main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), Kemal Kilicdaroglu, described Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in an interview with Al-Monitor. Speaking en route to the western province of Manisa for a string of campaign rallies, Kilicdaroglu was uncharacteristically agitated. He had just listened to a taped conversation that allegedly took place between Erdogan and an unidentified aide. It was among the latest in a slew of leaked recordings linking the prime minister, his family and political allies to massive corruption charges.
In this instance, a man alleged to be Erdogan talks about disseminating incriminating videos of unnamed CHP officials. Kilicdaroglu insisted that Erdogan was referring to the leaked sex video of former CHP leader Deniz Baykal that prompted his resignation in 2010 after nearly two decades at the helm.
“We now know who was responsible for this plot: Erdogan,” Kilicdaroglu claimed. “This is worse than Watergate. He must resign.”
