Turkish opposition leader calls Ergodan 'dictator'

Re-elected chair of Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) Kemal Kilicdaroglu slammed President Recep Tayyip Erdogan over his frequent interventions into political life, despite the fact that the constitution requires him to remain neutral, calling him a dictator.

Kilicdaroglu was re-elected as CHP chair for the fourth consecutive term. He received the votes of 990 delegates out of 1,238, running alone as his sole contender Izmir deputy Mustafa Balbay failed to garner the required number of signatures to be a candidate, Hurriyet Daily News reported.

During his party’s convention over the weekend, Kilicdaroglu said "We know how concepts like honor and pride. If one gives one’s word of honor, he or she should fulfill this to the death. Because honor and pride are undisputable for us. You tell us, so-called dictator, what do honor and pride mean to you?".

Upon Kilicdaroglu harsh words, AKP Deputy Chair Selcuk Ozdag, who had been invited to the convention by the CHP, left the convention center.

"I decided to leave because he went too far in his criticisms against a president elected with the votes of 52 percent of the people," Ozdag later said.

Source: MENA