Çelik fires back after CHP leader calls FM ‘an idiot’

ANKARA

AKP deputy chair Hüseyin Çelik slams main opposition leader Kılıçdaroğlu’s remarks, which he made the CHP’s parliamentary group meeting. AA photo

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has responded harshly after main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu called Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu “an idiot.”

“If Mr. Davutoğlu had given the zakat of his intellect [to Kılıçdaroğlu], it would suffice for Kılıçdaroğlu throughout his lifetime. Do you think that you are displaying opposition by insulting people and mudslinging?” AKP deputy chair Hüseyin Çelik said yesterday at a press conference, referring to Kılıçdaroğlu’s remarks during the CHP’s parliamentary group meeting Oct. 9.

Zakat is an obligation of Islam according to which one has to give a certain amount of his income to people in need. This amount is usually one-fortieth of the amount earned annually after one’s own expenses.

“How can we describe the policy that put Turkey into this situation? Is this ‘strategic depth,’ or strategic blindness?” Kılıçdaroğlu said, referring to the notion of “strategic depth,” which is a brainchild of Davutoğlu. “The process that resulted in Turkey’s becoming part of such a meaningless balance comes from a foreign minister whose incompetence is known by the entire world. You don’t need deep knowledge to know that. You have to be a first-rate idiot to do that,” Kılıçdaroğlu said on Tuesday during the CHP’s parliamentary group meeting.

Çelik said he was delivering his remarks as a friend of Davutoğlu who has known him from the beginning of his academic career. Çelik also argued that CHP leaders were depressed under the charisma of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Çelik was asked whether there was a difference of view within the party concerning Diyarbakır Police Chief Recep Güven’s statement that a human must be touched by the death of a terrorist on the mountain.

Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç on Oct. 8 said he personally appreciated Güven. Erdoğan disowned Güven’s remarks on Oct. 9, adding that Güven should know his place as a police chief.

Çelik first praised Güven’s performance as a police chief. “In my opinion, the biggest mistake that the police chief made was holding such a press conference and making a declaration of opinion. Let politicians do that,” he said.