Turkish opposition slams Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party for elections ‘injustice’

Leader of the Turkish Felicity Party Temel Karamollaoglu criticized a member of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s party, the Justice and Development Party (AKP), after the latter was seen in a video calling for protecting “the thief” in reference to Erdogan’s candidate for Istanbul’s mayoralty, Binali Yildirim.

In February, AKP’s Mehmet Ali Yetis’in, head of the Camliyayla District, called on supporters to stand by Yildirim who is being described as a “thief.”

“They’ve reached the extent of permitting corruption. I wonder how can a municipality head of a district affiliated with a political party come out and say: I will protect the thief,” Karamollaoglu said.

“In this case, this man must be immediately excluded because you must not harbor thieves. They’re in a very bad position, and they do not know how to get out of this dilemma,” he added.

According to the Turkish daily newspaper Sozcu, Mehmet Ali told supporters they “have two options,” to either stand with the candidate of those who “betrayed the state” or stand by their candidate, in reference to Yildirim, “who is being called a thief.”

“My friends, I say instead of standing by those who betrayed the state, we must stand by the thief whom we know well. In case we lose, God forbid, the price will be high, and we cannot afford it,” Mehmet Ali said.

Temel Karamollaoglu said that 90 percent of the friends who established the Justice and Development Party (AKP) have left it because of injustice.

“They say there was no justice anymore, and no place for counsel. Competencies were no longer prioritized, and the difference in points of view was not welcomed,” Karamollaoglu said in a video posted on the Felicity Party’s official Twitter page.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan appointed Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s wife Cigdem Ucar as a member in the board of the directors of the Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF), according to Sozcu newspaper.

The daily added that the decision was taken eight days after Turkey’s top election body ordered a re-run of the Istanbul mayoral vote.

The re-run was decided after Ucar’s husband, Ismail, led 32 investigations on allegations of irregularities in Istanbul municipality’s elections.

He also summoned more than 100 polling station officials for questioning.

The main opposition secularist Republican People’s Party won the mayoralty elections in both Ankara and Istanbul, however, Erdogan has refused the results and called for a re-run.