CHP leader Kılıçdaroğlu blasts France over ‘Quran manifesto’

ANKARA

Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has joined the chorus of critics of a manifesto published by prominent French intellectuals and politicians suggesting that some Quranic verses incite hatred and violence.

“It is not the Quran that is out of date, but you,” Kılıçdaroğlu said on May 8 addressing his CHP parliamentary group.

“This attitude or judgment is the judgment of al-Qaeda, al-Nusra and Daesh. [In this way] you are giving them your support,” he said, adding that the world accepts Islam as a religion of peace.

“There is no fight, grudge, or anger in Islam. In Islam there is merit and peace. How dare you define Islam this way? Respecting people’s faith is necessary for human dignity,” Kılıçdaroğlu said.

His remarks come after 300 French intellectuals and politicians, including former President Nicolas Sarkozy and former Prime Minister Manuel Valls, signed a manifesto published in Le Parisien on April 21. The manifesto suggests some Quran verses incite violence and hatred toward Jews, Christians and nonbelievers, and was interpreted as a demand to abrogate the Quran.

Kılıçdaroğlu slammed Erdoğan’s campaign manifesto

Kılıçdaroğlu also blasted President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s election campaign manifesto declared on May 5 at an Istanbul rally.

The CHP leader questioned why the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) “cannot stand upright if there is a threat to Turkey’s survival,” adding that the president “blames foreign powers for all the government’s failures.”

If the country has been brought to the issue of “survival” then blame can be laid at the door of the government that has been in office for over 15 years, Kılıçdaroğlu said.

He also blasted the collapse of meritocracy in Turkey, saying the government has “abolished merit and loyalty to [the state] as criteria” in favor of “individualization” of the administration with “every decision made by the palace.”

The laws do not work and the functions of state institutions have been destroyed, the CHP head stated.