President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan argued on Tuesday that citizens residing in the most developed districts of Turkey, who overwhelmingly tend to vote for the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), do not care about what happens to Turkey, adding that they enjoy the benefits to the fullest that the country has to offer.
“They don’t care if Turkey is burning down or leaping forward,” Erdoğan said during his party’s parliamentary group meeting in Ankara. According to the president, it is residents of Çankaya, Beşiktaş, Kadıköy and Şişli who are “la crème de la crème” of Turkey.
Turkey’s most developed districts are Beşiktaş and Kadıköy in İstanbul and Çankaya in Ankara, according to a new report released by the Human Development Foundation based on 18 parameters including governance, social inclusion, economic standing, education, health, environment and transportation.
The mayors of these most districts are traditionally elected from the CHP as the residents are known for having more secular leanings than the rest of the country.
Erdoğan argued that the election results in these districts have “nothing to do with the realities of Turkey” while accusing the CHP of “abusing the ideological fanaticism” of certain groups residing in those areas.
In response to Erdogan’s argument, Muharrem İnce, a presidential contender from the CHP in the June 24 elections, reacted on Twitter saying that such remarks come from a man who lives in an 1,100 room palace and flies on a $500 million private jet.