Kılıçdaroğlu bids farewell to the CHP tribune in the parliament

Photo: AA

Click to read the article in Turkish

Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, leader of the Republican People's Party (CHP) and presidential candidate of the Nation Alliance addressed the first parliamentary group meeting of his party after being nominated as the joint candidate of the opposition alliance of six political parties.

He was greeted by party members chanting "President Kılıçdaroğlu," and he said that he will make a brief speech and bid farewell to their party tribune today, which was difficult for him.

Kılıçdaroğlu compared his party colleagues with "those in the palace" and said he was really hopeful.

The newly announced presidential candidate also touched on the crisis within the alliance which was resolved yesterday. On Thursday, Meral Akşener, the Good (İYİ) Party leader had left the table, disagreeing with the leaders of the remaining five political parties about nominating Kılıçdaroğlu for candidacy, and insisting that either İstanbul or Ankara metropolitan mayors should run as the joint candidate instead.

"We will do [the job] together with the leader of Good Party, Akşener. Because Meral Akşener is brave, she is waging great struggles. She is a caring mother, and she also knows how to bang her fist on the table at times. I want everyone to know that I am thankful to her. Some people who do not know her well said some words that should not have been spoken in our first difference of opinion," said Kılıçdaroğlu.

"You really do not know her. She knows how to bang her fist on the table at times, as I said, but again at times, she becomes obstinate, holding onto her ideology; and I also know that," said Kılıçdaroğlu.

Kılıçdaroğlu added that they would do the job together with the presidents of the other four political parties and said that all of them had and will have significant contributions to end this "madness, this misery."

The CHP leader praised Karamollaoğlu, the president of the Felicity (Saadet) Party for his wisdom and courage, Davutoğlu, the president of the Future (Gelecek) Party for his intellectual capacity, Babacan, the president of the Democracy and Progress (DEVA) Party as a young leader that they will pull the country out of this misery together with, and Uysal the president of the Democratic Party, as a young and courageous leader.

Kılıçdaroğlu closed his speech by saying that they will succeed and that they have succeeded.

"In the name of God," he asked his party colleagues to give their blessing to him on the road he takes. (AÖ/ME/PE)