Opposition leader slams Erdoğan, Davutoğlu

Umut Erdem KIRŞEHİR

DHA Photo

Devlet Bahçeli, leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), has strongly criticized President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for demanding votes for his former ruling party, while also slamming the prime minister, using a “camera prank” analogy.

 “A personality who puts his honor on and off like a shirt, who turns off his swear for objectivity like a light bulb, cannot draw the future of Turkey and cannot convince the people anymore,” Bahçeli said Feb. 8 during a meeting in the Central Anatolian province of Kırşehir.

Bahçeli had earlier promised to hold a public meeting wherever Erdoğan does, saying Erdoğan’s tour is aimed at collecting votes for the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) for the June 7 elections.

Erdoğan held a meeting in Kırşehir on Jan. 30. Bahçeli, who said earlier this was a judicial trauma, as he argues Erdoğan’s wording is against the principle of objectivity, has named his chase behind Erdoğan the “Our Breath on Your Neck Meetings,” with Kırşehir as its debut.

“An x-copy prime minister whose stance is obscure, and who changes his route in accordance with Erdoğan, has fallen to a poor and weak position,” Bahçeli said.

“Due to [Prime Minister Ahmet] Davutoğlu’s insufficiency, and the fact he is a prime minister resembling a camera prank, Erdoğan himself got involved in the process, bearing everything. He demanded 400 deputies for the AKP,” he said.

Erdoğan once again appealed for votes for the AKP, without explicitly giving the party’s name, declaring recently “400 lawmakers” are needed for a “new Turkey.” 

Bahçeli said Erdoğan’s meetings violate his constitutional duties.