President Erdoğan calls on marching CHP leader to ‘respect the law’

ANKARA

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President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has called on the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) to “respect judicial rulings,” as CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu’s “justice march” from the capital Ankara to Istanbul enters its 6th day.

“The rulings belong to the judicial bodies. You have to respect the ruling of the judiciary,” Erdoğan said on June 19 at an iftar fast-breaking meal hosted by the ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) Women’s and Youth Branch.

“You refer to the constitution and the state of law, but does Article 138 of the constitution only apply to one group of people? Nobody can even make a suggestion or instruct [the judiciary], putting it under pressure,” he added, reiterating his earlier comments on Kılıçdaroğlu’s march, which he commenced after the imprisonment of CHP lawmaker Enis Berberoğlu on June 14.

Erdoğan lashed out at the CHP leader as Kılıçdaroğlu continued his march through the outskirts of Ankara province alongside CHP members, non-governmental organizations and supporters.

“Those who want to take the judiciary under oppression may face the same situation themselves one day. The law also applies to them,” the president said.


‘Opposition’s joint candidate for 2019 election will be stopped’

Meanwhile, Erdoğan also referred to the 2019 presidential and parliamentary elections, following the contested April referendum on shifting Turkey to an executive presidential system granting sweeping powers to the future-president.

“Those who raise difficulties for us in every election will not stay silent in this process. It would be naïve or even ignorant not to see the relevance of recent developments in our region to our country and our movement,” he said.

As the main opposition is seeking an alliance with all political circles that objected to the constitutional amendment in the 2019 election, Erdoğan vowed that the government’s efforts will focus on the opposition’s “joint candidate.”

“Don’t forget the opposition’s search for a joint candidate. In 2019 we will nullify all those scenarios, as well as alls political and media engineering,” he said.