Bülent Tezcan, deputy chairman of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), on Monday said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was a “fascist dictator,” the DHA news agency reported.
“I do not know if [Süleymanpaşa district] Mayor Ekrem [Eşkinat] said that or not. But I am saying this in Tekirdağ Square: Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is a fascist dictator. I am saying this in a way that they understand. [He] is a genuine dictator, in fact,” said Tezcan during a speech in Tekirdağ.
Tezcan visited Tekirdağ to show his support for Mayor Eşkinat, who was released by a court last week on judicial probation and under a travel ban, in a case in which he was accused of insulting Erdoğan by saying “fascist, dictator.”
The CHP deputy chairman underlined that they would not allow President Erdoğan and his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) to oppress CHP mayors. “The mayors who were elected by the people are not your whipping boys,” he said.