Raid row gets rough as PM slams ‘necrophile’ policies

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (C) gives flowers to the supporters of his ruling party with his wife, Emine Erdoğan (L), during a rally-like Istanbul parley of the Justice and Development Party (AKP). The convention was held at the fully packed Türk Telekom Arena, which was built by TOKİ and has a capacity of 52,000. AA photo

Turkey’s ongoing Uludere debate has turned dirty with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan accusing an opposition MP of pursuing “necrophile” politics.

“They are dead-lovers, in other words, they need dead bodies for politics,” he said during an Istanbul
convention of his party. (Full report: Turkish PM slams opposition over Uludere politics)

Main opposition leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, meanwhile, questioned Erdoğan’s authority as the PM. “[Those who gave the orders for the strike overseas] have disregarded you as a PM,” he said. “They don’t put you in the position of being a human.” (Full report: CHP slams government over Uludere)

President Abdullah Gül and the defense minister, meanwhile, backed military officials who are under fire
for the strike, while Erdoğan said the state was doing everything to help those hit by the mistake. “A mistake that made us all sad occurred at Uludere,” he said, adding that probes are continuing on the issue. (Full report: President, government back army in raid saga)