CHP leader outlines five problems of Turkey

ISTANBUL

Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu addressed five fields of problems that Turkey has been facing: Democracy, economy, foreign policy, education and social peace.

Speaking at the “Joint Mind Platform Leaders Meeting,” organized by the Turkish Enterprise and Business Confederation (TÜRKONFED) on June 4, Kılıçdaroğlu pledged that his party will resolve these issues if the CHP comes to the power.

“Where there is no democracy, there is no growth, no freedom of thought, and more importantly, there is no security of life and property because the judiciary is not independent,” he said, stressing the importance of “building” a Turkey where one will respect everyone’s thoughts, identities, beliefs and lifestyles.

The second issue is the economy, he said, adding, “When there is no democracy, and everything becomes personal, serious problems arise in the economy.”

The third problem of Turkey is its foreign policy, according to Kılıçdaroğlu. He suggested that Turkey never faced such a period that the Foreign Ministry was “so disabled.“

“This also means that the merit system in the state has completely collapsed. In foreign policy, Turkey has become a country that has lost ground and lost credibility,” Kılıçdaroğlu stated.

The fourth problem is about education, he said and stressed that the universities have come to the point where they cannot produce knowledge.

Kılıçdaroğlu also criticized the decisions taken to expel professors because they were different in opinion than that of the ruling power. He resembled this problem to the one in the periods of the coup d’état. “If you think of the university as a place where freedom of thought is destroyed, it is not a university anyway,” the CHP leader said.

“Fifth is that we have to ensure our social peace. We have come to such a point that we have come to question our neighbor’s identity, beliefs and lifestyle. Turkey has to get out of here too,” Kılıçdaroğlu said.