Turkey’s main opposition leader calls Erdoğan a ‘narcissist’

Rifat Başaran - ANKARA

AA photo

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s “narcissism” was revealed by his comments after the recent release of two prominent journalists, Turkey’s main opposition leader has said, expressing “sadness” over the president’s decision to “not respect or recognize” the Constitutional Court’s ruling.  

“The president of a country should set a model for the society and should obey the judiciary and the law. But if his or her narcissism shows up then he doesn’t recognize any rule, because what he says is the law itself. He doesn’t comply with the law, the constitution, or any of the other rules,” Republican People’s Party (CHP) head Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu said on March 1, when asked about Erdoğan’s remarks delivered on Feb. 28.

“What is the law? The law is the assurance of all living people in a society. Who distributes the law? The courts,” Kılıçdaroğlu said, responding to reporters’ questions during a visit to the Union of Chambers of Certified Accountants of Turkey (TÜRMOB).

The main opposition leader’s comments were followed by a CHP deputy’s proposal to get Erdoğan “psychological treatment,” which led to angry exchanges in parliament. 

Addressing a general assembly session during ongoing discussions on the 2016 Central Governance Budget Law, CHP Gaziantep deputy Akif Ekici said the president was “dragging the country into a disaster” due to his policy regarding the Syrian conflict.

“I’m proposing to [the four political parties in parliament]. In our hometown, some elderly people don’t want to go to the doctor even though they are sick. But then family elders and leading figures of the neighborhood gather and persuade this person to get treated. Let’s form a quartet to get this Recep Tayyip Erdoğan psychologically treated, because he has lost his consciousness,” Ekici said.

Upon these remarks, Justice and Development Party (AKP) AKP Rize deputy Hikmet Ayar tried to walk over to Ekici, presumably to engage in a physical confrontation. Deputy Parliament Speaker Pervin Buldan announced a five-minute break in order to calm the tension, but after the session restarted a group of AKP deputies crossed over to the CHP seats to confront the opposition, prompting Ekici to leave the hall. Buldan then announced another break, and eventually she proposed banning Ekici’s from attending parliament for two sessions, which the assembly approved with a majority vote.