Top six polemics of Turkey election: From ‘golden toilet’ to ‘that Mercedes’
ISTANBUL
Rumors that Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has a golden toilet seats at the gargantuan new presidential palace infuriated the Turkish president, who angrily denied the claims and asked the main opposition leader whether he had been cleaning the palace’s toilets. (Click here to read more)
2) Luxury Mercedes for top cleric
Turkey’s top cleric, Directorate of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) head Mehmet Görmez, returned the 1 million Turkish Lira ($435,000) official car that was recently purchased for him, after strong criticism from opposition parties and the public in May. However, Erdoğan then insisted that Görmez should have kept it and sent him another Mercedes from the presidency’s fleet. (Click here to read more)
3) Islam in politics
Erdoğan, who continued to slam the opposition parties during the campaign despite the presidency’s non-partisan position, spoke at a number of public events with a Kurdish Quran in his hand. In May, he asked: “He [HDP co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş] comes and says ‘Taksim [Square in Istanbul] is our Kaaba.’ Our Kaaba is certain. Don’t they [the CHP and the HDP] deserve to be given a lesson on June 7?” (Click here to read more)
4) Deputy PM’s fight with Ankara mayor
In a rare sign of a crack in the ruling AKP, Deputy PM Bülent Arınç traded barbs with Ankara Mayor Melih Gökçek, also an AKP heavyweight, amid corruption allegations back in March. The fight has apparently been postponed until after elections. (Click here to read more)
5) Blasting of gays, blondes, journalists and others
Throughout the campaign, Erdoğan has singled out media outlets like the New York Times, the Economist and others, while also suing scores of journalists over what he saw as insults. The president even suggested that Armenians and gays were part of a dark anti-AKP alliance, but perhaps the most direct attack on an international figure unsurprisingly came from Ankara Mayor Gökçek. “Come on blonde, answer now,” Gökçek said in a tweet posted on April 29, addressing U.S. State Department spokesperson Marie Harf. (Click here to read more)
6) The Ottomans are coming
Just weeks after Erdoğan’s “16 Turkish warriors” hit international headlines, several candidates launched Ottoman-themed campaigns to be nominated for the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in February. Sadly, none of these costumed hopefuls succeeded in getting nominated for the AKP, but their presence certainly livened up the pre-election season. (Click here to read more)