Jakarta, CNN Indonesia —
President Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan insists it will not hold early presidential and parliamentary elections despite opposition pressure to step down as a result inflation currency lira which keeps getting worse.
Erdogan stressed that the presidential and parliamentary elections would still be held as scheduled, namely June 2023.
“They (the opposition) are still calling for early elections. There will be no earlier elections. It will be held in June 2023. Holding elections once every 15-20 months will only be seen by people that we are a primitive nation,” Erdogan said during a joint meeting his Justice and Development Party (AKP) in Ankara on Tuesday (23/11).
Erdogan also called on all ranks of his party to work harder in order to be elected and win another election.
He is determined that the AKP and its main ally, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) will win a parliamentary majority in the 2023 elections.
Erdoan also vowed to thwart all forms of economic, political and military sabotage before the centennial of the Republic of Turkey was founded in 2023.
“We will finish our struggle in the best way and we will provide a very bright and new future for our children,” he said. Hurriyet Daily.
“All elections are very important but given the circumstances affecting Turkey and the world, the 2023 elections will be very important for Turkey and its future role in the wider environment,” the president added.
Erdogan’s leadership continues to be tested after opposition groups blamed the president for the decline in the value of the lira, which plunged 15 percent against the US dollar.
Opposition politicians in the Turkish parliament consider this inflation to be leading Turkey to face the darkest “catastrophe” in history.
“There has never been a disaster like this in the history of the Republic of Turkey,” said opposition leader of the Republican People’s Party, Kemal Kilicdaroglu on Tuesday (23/11).
Kilicdaroglu blamed Erdogan, who has led Turkey since 2003, for the lira’s continued decline.
“At this point, you (Erdogan) are a fundamental national security issue for the Republic of Turkey,” he said.
Turkey’s former prime minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, a former ally of Erdogan, called the president’s economic policies a form of “treason and not a matter of ignorance.”
So far, Erdogan has cut central bank interest rates which he believes can boost exports, investment and jobs. On the other hand, some economists view that lowering interest rates is a ‘reckless’ policy.
Turks say the lira’s decline has turned household budgets upside down and plans for the future.
Kilicdaroglu, Davutoglu and several other opposition leaders have announced an emergency meeting to discuss the issue of lira inflation, the second largest in history.
Erdogan’s call for resignation is lively on Twitter, which can be read on the next page >>>
Erdoan’s Call for Resignation is Crowded on Twitter
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