Turkish President and Chairman of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said Turkey’s destiny has become tied to the destiny of the AKP.
Erdoğan’s remarks came on Wednesday during a meeting with his party’s provincial chairmen.
Targeting the head of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, in his speech, Erdoğan argued that the AKP’s loss in elections would destroy Turkey.
“Turkey’s destiny has become tied to that of the AKP. If we [AKP] stumble, Turkey will be in trouble. We saw what the cost of the AKP’s loss to Turkey was in the June 7 and Nov. 1 elections. Our country’s biggest misfortune is having a greedy and incompetent main opposition party leader. While he is fighting with me and my party to come to power, he is also cooperating with Turkey’s enemies.”
The AKP had lost its parliamentary majority for the first time in 13 years as the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) crossed the 10 percent threshold and secured seats for the first time in the June 7, 2015 elections. Erdoğan was disappointed over the results since his plans to turn Turkey into a presidential republic were damaged.
The AKP won back its majority seats in the Nov. 1, 2015 elections as support for the HDP decreased from 13 percent to just over 10 percent amid instability in Syria and heightened tensions with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).