Turkish President Gül to vote for İhsanoğlu instead of Erdoğan, main opposition leader claims

Okan Konuralp NEVŞEHİR

'Mr. Gül cannot be compared to Erdoğan in terms of moral values,' Kılıçdaroğlu has said. AA photo

President Abdullah Gül and his family will vote for Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu in presidential elections instead of taking sides with his long-time political comrade, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has claimed.

“I believe wholeheartedly that Abdullah Gül will take up a position on the side of Ekmeleddin [İhsanoğlu]. Mr. Gül cannot be compared to Erdoğan in terms of moral values. He will prefer one who has high moral values, is respected and will take Turkey out of the swamp of the Middle East,” Kılıçdaroğlu told reporters July 31.

“Therefore, President Gül’s choice would be İhsanoğlu and he will vote for İhsanoğlu,” he noted.
 Not only Gül, but also his family will take sides with İhsanoğlu, Kılıçdaroğlu added. Gül has not said whom he will vote for.

The CHP leader criticized Erdoğan for not declaring the donations he has received during the campaign, in contrast to the transparency of İhsanoğlu and the other candidate, Selahattin Demirtaş.

Kılıçdaroğlu said Erdoğan had received money that exceeded the limit of 9,000 Turkish Liras for donations in presidential elections. He also questioned the prime minister’s misuse of a discretionary fund, alleging that his expenses had reached 7 million liras.

The CHP leader said he would be sorry if İhsanoğlu failed to win the presidential elections, but not with regards to the CHP, but for Turkey since an Erdoğan presidency would tarnish the country’s image through “corruption.”