Erdoğan: 'We will be in a democratic race with the candidate of the coalition of six'

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Chairperson of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan spoke today (March 15) in the parliamentary group meeting of his party for the first time after Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the leader of the main opposition party was nominated as their joint candidate by the Nation Alliance of six opposition parties.

Once again admitting the problems in the aftermath of the February 6 earthquakes, the President also challenged Kılıçdaroğlu in his speech.

Speaking about the February 6 earthquakes, Erdoğan said, "We were caught by the earthquake under severe winter conditions. Nevertheless, we raced to the earthquake region with our state and with our nation as soon as we learned about it despite the difficulties under winter conditions. Our ministers reached the cities hit by the earthquake hours after the disaster and started to coordinate the work."

"Half a million of our people came to rescue"

Erdoğan also argued that they have sent all rescue teams that they could send and those half a million people came to the rescue. "However, the destruction was so large that it was not possible to do enough even if we were able to send one team to each building. Turkey has brought together the largest rescue team seen in the world until today. Nevertheless, our people who are reproachful are totally justified. We share their pain, and we open our arms and our hearts to them."

Erdoğan also touched on the dispute that the Nation Alliance went through on nominating Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, the leader of the Republican People's Party (CHP).

"Supposedly they formed an election alliance"

The President said, "Six political parties joined and supposedly formed an election alliance. What was the purpose? To nominate the presidential candidate, and to set the framework for the lists of candidates for MP's. A presidential candidate should be someone who has something to tell the nation. He [Kılıçdaroğlu] had asked how would it be possible to govern when I assigned one vice president.

Now some gains will be distributed to those gathering around the Table of Six. There should be that many vice presidents. He thinks that my nation is unaware, this noble nation will not forget, and will respond on May 14.

"They nominated their candidate with great difficult"

Erdoğan recalled that the opposition alliance of Table of Six was saying, while not announcing their candidate for months although "meeting again and again", that the person should not be fatigued.

"But," he said, "there was such a serious fight in the meeting that we do not have any parallel in our history of democracy. After this ugly fight, they were able to announce their candidate with great difficulty also with the help of the two metropolitan majors of CHP."

"Hopefully we will give him the chair he deserves"

Erdoğan stated that they would now be in a democratic race with Kılıçdaroğlu until the elections.

"At last Mr. Kemal was brave enough to confront us himself instead of nominating some other people, hiding behind others. We will be in a democratic race with the candidate of the coalition of six until May 14 and hopefully we will give him the chair he deserves," he said. (ME/AS/PE)