Remarks by the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) Chair Özgür Özel against President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stoked anger at the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party). The party’s deputy chair and spokesperson, Ömer Çelik, told reporters on Saturday that Özel succumbed to pro-Israeli propaganda as the latter criticized Erdoğan’s stance on the Palestine-Israel conflict.
The CHP was quick to exploit a move by the Turkish Foreign Ministry not to immediately sign the Hague Group statement, claiming the government turned its back on the Palestinians. Ankara later expressed its reservations on specific topics in the statement, which may jeopardize its maritime sovereignty, but declared that it had signed most of the articles in the statement. In a recent speech, Özel had questioned Erdoğan’s loyalty to the Palestinian cause and claimed the president was afraid of a reaction by the U.S., a major ally of Israel.
“Özel’s remarks can be easily assessed as Israeli propaganda, especially by people in Gaza,” Çelik told reporters. He slammed Özel for groundless allegations under the guise of criticism. “It is crystal clear. The world now has a humanity front comprised of all faiths, ethnicities and nations (opposing Israel’s attacks on Gaza). All members of this front affirm that Mr. President is the loudest voice for humanity and a leader taking concrete steps. Özel’s statements cannot be justified and are not something people should take seriously,” Çelik said. Çelik noted that President Erdoğan was “the most targeted leader by the Zionist propaganda machine.”
The spokesperson underlined that the CHP also made mistakes in all other foreign policy issues. He reminded that CHP politicians in the past supported “armed groups opposing Türkiye.” “While there has been a Türkiye-friendly government in Libya, CHP’s politicians issued statements openly supportive of armed groups opposing Türkiye there. CHP politicians also reject Blue Homeland and openly attack it,” he said, referring to Turkish doctrine for preserving the maritime sovereignty of the country in the Aegean Sea.
Çelik gave other examples of CHP’s misalignment in Türkiye’s foreign policy. “Türkiye conducted land offensives like Euphrates Shield and Olive Branch so that it won’t have a terrorist statelet on its immediate border, but the CHP criticized it. A CHP lawmaker lied and said Türkiye sent jihadists to Karabakh while Azerbaijan was fighting for its own land there. That CHP lawmaker tried to overshadow Azerbaijan’s fight and Türkiye’s support for Azerbaijan,” he said.
“Palestinians and Palestinian leaders openly say that Erdoğan, both while he was prime minister and during his presidency, gave the strongest, uninterrupted support in tough times to the Palestinian cause. Our president is the first Turkish leader to announce that the Palestinian cause is the national cause of Türkiye. We took many steps and executed action plans,” Çelik stressed.
