Addressing supporters of his Justice and Development Party (AK Party) on Friday in the central Turkish province of Konya, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan lambasted the Republican People’s Party (CHP) for its unwavering support for its arrested mayor, Rıza Akpolat.
CHP leader Özgür Özel and senior figures of his party have been campaigning for the release of Akpolat, mayor of Istanbul’s Beşiktaş district, since he was detained earlier this week and formally arrested early Friday. The CHP claims the accusations of tender rigging against Akpolat are politically motivated and are not based on concrete evidence. A CHP lawmaker has claimed that Istanbul’s chief prosecutor “made up” allegations against the mayor.
“Instead of fixing the erroneous ways of their party, the CHP attacks public officials, which is a clear sign of their guilt. They are still angered over losing the privileges they enjoyed in the Türkiye of yesteryear,” Erdoğan said.
“Nobody is above the law in today’s Türkiye,” Erdoğan said in his criticism of Türkiye’s oldest party, which failed to govern for decades after single-party rule before the 1950s.
“Like it or not, laws apply in this country, and you have to respect them,” Erdoğan told CHP.
“Your counterparts are not judiciary members but politicians. You cannot point fingers at the judiciary; you cannot press on them and hope to achieve a result. Stop messing with others. Face us. We are here. Let’s dig up the past, and we will see who will be ashamed. Özel should not look far away for thieves. They are around him,” he said, referring to the CHP chair’s recent remarks about “40 thieves” (a reference to “Ali Baba and Forty Thieves” folk tale) in which he accused Erdoğan of favoritism and exempting some from taxes. “They cannot respond to allegations in the case, so they are trying to distract people. They are well aware that more facts will come to light,” Erdoğan said.
Erdoğan said the CHP failed to create new policies and had no vision. “May Allah endow patience to the CHP electorate. I can guess that they are disappointed with CHP leaders but cannot openly express themselves. We are, at least, pleased with seeing (Özel and others) leaving their ivory tower and mingling with the people,” he said, as he mocked the CHP leader who took up various jobs from cooking to cheese making for photo opportunities in the past two months.
“The CHP should ditch its elitist discourse and should not underestimate public wisdom,” he said.
“Alas, their best vision is a red card, and their biggest pledge is reducing prices of raki,” Erdoğan added, referring to Özel’s recent pledge to bring down the price of a liter of raki, a favorite alcoholic drink in Türkiye, to TL 140 ($3.94) from more than TL 1,000 ($28.11). The CHP recently launched a literal “red card” campaign, with its members carrying red cards, which they are advised to “show” to the government.
High cost of living
The president also addressed Türkiye’s economic woes, particularly inflation. “Our priority is resolving the high cost of living. We aim to reduce inflation and imbalanced price increases. We will not deviate from our development program, which will meet the job and livelihood demands of the nation by increasing employment, manufacturing and exports. We are one of few countries that have registered noteworthy growth rates. We will see the concrete impact of the drop in inflation in the second half of this year,” Erdoğan said.
The president acknowledged that overpricing and greed (of sellers) “eroded” raises on wages over time, but the public would see how efficient the raises would be once the inflation dropped. “We ask the public to be more patient. We gained much ground, and there is less to go,” he said.
Türkiye’s annual inflation eased to 44.38% in December from a peak of around 75.5% in May last year, official data showed earlier this month. The decline in inflation is set to continue this year, Treasury and Finance Minister Mehmet Şimşek said Wednesday, highlighting the disinflation process would not only be supported by demand-side policies but also by supply-side measures in food, housing and energy as well as accelerated reforms. Inflation will continue to decline due to the lagged impact of monetary policy, more supportive revenue policy, administered prices in line with the inflation target and supply-side measures, Şimşek told investors in London, according to an Anadolu Agency (AA) report.
“This year, we will reduce the budget deficit to around 3% of gross domestic product (GDP). This target will be met thanks to the reduction in public expenditures,” he said.