Özgür Özel, the leader of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), the main opposition party in Turkey, harshly criticised President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s recent authoritarian crackdowns in a speech delivered to an audience of thousands of his supporters in Şişli, Istanbul on 9 April. He accused Erdoğan of being a “junta member” and of instrumentalising peace efforts with Kurds to gain votes for the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), claiming that his own CHP would make a sincere effort to establish fraternity with Kurds and their political representatives.
Özel stressed that all politicians in Turkey who have no criminal record must be able to put forward their candidacies for municipal councils, and stated that if it is somehow a crime to present oneself as a legal candidate who attracts Kurdish votes, then he himself is guilty of that crime. He claimed that if Kurdish democrats run for positions in the municipalities governed by CHP mayors, this is simply because the CHP values and respects Kurds.
He accused Erdoğan of positioning himself as a “caliph” and of labelling Kurds as desirable only if they vote for or support the AKP, while labelling them as terrorists if they vote for or support the CHP. The opposition leader proclaimed that “the solution is to see Kurds and Turks as brothers and equals, not to separate Laz, Circassian and Pomak from each other; to embrace Alevis and Sunnis together.” As the president of the party, he announced that the CHP would be holding rallies in a district of Istanbul every Wednesday.
