Click to read the article in Turkish
Ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Vice Chair Numan Kurtulmuş spoke at the AKP Research and Development and Education Presidency Organization Academy yesterday (January 2).
Even though the prices of several goods and services especially electricity, natural gas and fuel oil have seen sharp increases in the new year, Numan Kurtulmuş said, "We will get over this situation stemming from the fluctuations in the economy. We will continue on our path by easing the burden of our citizens especially in the face of high costs of living."
Referring to the recently unveiled minimum wage of 4,253 Turkish Lira (TRY), Kurtulmuş once again said that "a historic increase was made".
In his speech, AKP's Kurtulmuş also targeted the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP). Referring to CHP Chair Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu's call for "reconciliation", he briefly said, "When [he] says reconciliation, I really wonder whether the CHP is changing. Praise be, the spokespersons and prominent politicians of the CHP manifest it to the nation that the CHP is still what it was yesterday, it has not changed a bit and it will apparently not come to terms with the nation's values easily."
Arguing that "someone advised [Kılıçdaroğlu] that reconciliation is an expression stemming from the values held by a wide majority of the nation", Kurtulmuş said, "If you are to reconcile, then come here and let us remind you about what you should apologize to this nation for."
Referring to "fascist Germany", Numan Kurtulmuş reminded the CHP of the "persuasion rooms" where veiled women, especially students, faced attempts of persuasion to remove their headscarves after February 28, 1997, which came down in Turkey's history as the "postmodern coup". Kurtulmuş argued that "the person who did those acts then became one of the most prominent members of the parliament of the CHP." (RT/SD)
