CHP presidential candidate Muharrem İnce vows to ‘bring peace to Turkey’ if elected

ANKARA

Muharrem İnce, the presidential candidate of the Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), has vowed to provide “peace and comfort to the country” if he is elected president in the June 24 snap elections, ending discrimination against citizens due to their ethnic, religious or political backgrounds.

“How will we bring peace? First, we will love our people. We will make peace. We will provide societal peace,” İnce said in a rally in the Central Anatolian province of Konya on May 14.

“Secondly we will grow [economically]. Thirdly we will share [economic revenues]. We will end inequality of income distribution. And we will [introduce] the rule of law,” he added.

İnce voiced worry about growing polarization in Turkish society under the rule of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and stressed that his main promise to the people is to “bring peace and comfort.”

“My ‘crazy project’ is to bring peace to Turkey. His [Erdoğan’s] project is to construct new bridges, mine is to build peace,” he had said at another rally over the weekend.

İnce also questioned the president’s vast wealth, noting that he became a parliamentarian long before Erdoğan but the latter somehow managed to become very rich.

“I fail to understand how he got rich while I am still poor. He calls me a ‘poor fellow’ but I’m not. I am richer than him because I don’t discriminate between anyone based on how they vote or based on whether they are Turkish or Kurdish. I love all 81 million citizens. That’s why I am richer than him,” İnce said.