Opposition leader to Boğaziçi students: 'Welcome to the terrorists' club'

Photo: AA

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Democracy and Progress (DEVA) Party Chair Ali Babacan has visited Meral Akşener at her İYİ (Good) Party's headquarters in Ankara.

Holding a press conference after the meeting, the two leaders criticized the government's handling of the Boğaziçi University protests and the president's call for a new constitution.

About the protests against the appointment of the university's new rector, Akşener said, "[The students] expressed their opinion and were declared terrorists by the president of this country.

"But I have a word for those young people: Ahead of March 31 [2019 local elections], Mr. President called farmers, shopkeepers, and Kurds who don't vote for his party 'terrorists.' He called us, politicians, terrorists.

"Yesterday, he called those young people who qualified for one of Turkey's best schools, 'terrorists,' rather than listening to their voice and understanding what they say.

"I'd like to say 'Welcome to this terrorist club' to my young friends."

Babacan, who founded his party after leaving the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in 2019, said, "The government has a table of 'enemies of the week.' As they fail to solve problems, they declare the enemy of the week."

The protests started after President and AKP Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan appointed a rector to the university from outside its academic community on January 2. Hundreds of students were detained during the protests that have been going on since then.

Senior government officials, including Erdoğan, have accused the protesters of being members of "terrorist" organizations.

CLICK - Police storm Boğaziçi University, detain 51 students

CLICK - Erdoğan, Bahçeli target Boğaziçi students, LGBTI+s again as protests intensify 

The new constitution debate

About Erdoğan's call for a new constitution, Akşener said, "If it is a claim about making a constitution from scratch, it means the foundation of the second republic, about which we should be informed."

The president said on Monday (February 1) that the country should begin discussing a new constitution.

"Whoever says, 'No new reforms are needed in this country,' that person doesn't know anything about Turkey and the world," he said.

Akşener suggested that Erdoğan opened that up for discussion to cast a veil over the problems of "farmers, shopkeepers, and mothers."

"There is a fight waged over values in Turkey. I am visiting one district after another. I meet both Kurdish and Turkish shopkeepers.

"None of them make observations based on their belongingness, they just say they can't make the first sale of the day. They say their sons and daughters are university graduates but have been unemployed for three years.

"Rather than talking about this, the government sees what divides [the society]."

Babacan pointed out that the government already ignores the Constitutional court decisions.

"The Constitutional Court says its decisions should be complied with ... This means the Constitutional Court decisions are not complied with," he said.

"We experienced it recently; the Constitutional court gave a decision and the lower court said, 'I won't comply with it.' And Erdoğan found it right," said Babacan, referring to the top court's justified decision about an opposition MP's expulsion from the parliament.

"What's the point of changing a text that you already don't comply with?"

"Turkey currently has a deep unemployment problem. There is a problem named, 'the house youth.' There are suicides because of poverty. The distribution of income has deteriorated even more.

"What the government should do is to create solutions for these." (AS/VK)