CHP leader travels to US for six-day visit

ANKARA

The Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu departed for the United States on Oct. 9 for a six-day visit where he will meet with businesspeople, prominent science people and students, think tanks, representatives of some media outlets, and non-governmental organizations related to the environment and women’s rights.

Kılıçdaroğlu will visit the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University in Boston, and travel to Washington where he will meet prominent members of science, technology, human rights and non-governmental organizations.

Kılıçdaroğlu is expected to make a call to Turks residing in the U.S. for their return to Türkiye during these meetings. The CHP leader earlier said he would not meet with representatives of the U.S. administration.

Meanwhile, the law proposal of the main opposition for ensuring freedom of dress, including the headscarf, was only the beginning and his party will also take steps on more major matters of Türkiye, Kılıçdaroğlu tweeted on Oct. 7.

Kılıçdaroğlu elaborated on President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s response to the CHP’s proposal, at which the president indicated the constitutional amendment proposal that the ruling Justice end Development Party (AKP) plans to introduce would also concern the LGBT issue and the family structure of Türkiye.

“As I expected, Erdoğan, you moved the subject to irrelevant places to keep the head scarved women as hostages. You are not sincere. I wanted our nation to see it and you showed it,” Kılıçdaroğlu said addressing President Erdoğan.

He called on young conservative women and asked them to show the ruling party and its ally Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) in the next elections that they are “not political hostages.”

“I also promise that in the first week of our rule, I will pass both the Istanbul Convention and this proposed law into the Constitution,” he added.

“This is just the beginning. There are bigger issues, we will boldly bring solutions to all of them. I don’t know if I will succeed, but I will try,” he added.