Baykal tells Gul to withdraw, saying: "AKP sees Cankaya as an office to be conquered"
Güncelleme Tarihi:
While opposition parties in Turkey scramble to re-organize themselves in the wake of events over the past week, and in preparation for early general elections which are now settled for July 22, CHP general leader Deniz Baykal yesterday addressed his parliamentary group, calling once again for AKP presidential candidate Abdullah Gul to withdraw his name from candidacy, and criticizing Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan for his stance on the Constitutional Court's decision to void the first round of voting in Parliament. Said Baykal yesterday:
"The Constitutional Court opened the way in front of Turkey, and eased things for the nation. But I witness with surprise and dismay the attitude of the Prime Minister towards the Court's decision. Just because the Court has 'taken a decision that doesn't fit in with the Prime Minister's plans,' does the Prime Minister really have the right to use language so disrespectful to our high court? How unsuitable."
Baykal also said that Cankaya was an office that the ruling AKP viewed as one "to be conquered":
"It is incorrect to think that the AKP leaders believe that religion is a spiritual matter between Allah and believers. What they want is to carry religion to society, to carry it into the public domain. It is with this sort of understanding that Cankaya has moved for them from being simply an office, into being a locale that they can conquer."