Intelligence agency informed me of assassination plot: Erdoğan in Sarajevo
SARAJEVO
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on May 20 said the National Intelligence Organization (MİT) has warned of an assassination plot against him.
“The reason I am here [now] is that I received this intelligence,” Erdoğan told reporters in Sarajevo, speaking alongside his Bosnian counterpart.
“Such threats and operations will not stop us from going forward. We will continue on our path,” he added.
Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdağ had on May 19 warned of possible “assassination threats” against Erdoğan during his visit to Bosnia on May 20.
“We are aware that there are circles who are uncomfortable with such a great leader, a man with a cause. We are aware that they want to get rid of our president. These assassination threats are not new, they have always been there,” Bozdağ tweeted.
“But Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is not a man who would be afraid of death threats, or who would turn away from his path and his cause,” he added.
‘We are open to all kinds of cooperation’
Meanwhile, speaking in Sarajevo Erdoğan once again slammed Fethullah Gülen, the U.S.-based Islamic preacher who Ankara accuses of masterminding the July 2016 coup attempt, which left at least 250 people dead and many more injured.
“FETÖ is trying to survive like an octopus that has its arms wrapped around all departments of the government,” Erdoğan said, referring to the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ), which Ankara says is a terror network led by Gülen from Pennsylvania.
“Our fight in this regard requires a great amount of effort,” he said.
“We expect FETÖ’s presence in Bosnia and Herzegovina to come to an end as a result of mutual efforts. We are open to all kinds of cooperation,” he added.
Erdoğan holds only election rally outside Turkey in Sarajevo
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan arrived in Bosnia yesterday to hold a rally ahead of the presidential and parliamentary elections next month.
Speaking at the rally, Erdoğan told the crowd that “on June 24 voters will not only be choosing a president and deputies. At the same time we will be making a choice for our country’s upcoming century.”
Turkey is scheduled to hold snap presidential and parliamentary elections on June 24, with three million expatriate Turks allowed to vote, including 1.4 million in Germany.
Agence France-Presse on May 20 reported that thousands of people converged on Sarajevo’s largest sports venue, Zetra, where the rally is set to be held.
Security was tight, with local media reporting that crowds of up to 20,000 were expected, AFP reported.
Speaking at the rally, Erdoğan told the crowd that “on June 24 voters will not only be choosing a president and deputies. At the same time we will be making a choice for our country’s upcoming century.”
“What I request of you is that you take an active role in the political parties in the countries where you live. Those parliaments should not only host those who are betraying their country. You should also take your place there. Turkish society has that power,” he added.
The capital Sarajevo was chosen for the event after countries such as Germany, Austria and the Netherlands have barred
Turkish politicians from holding such rallies.
Bosnian leader shows support to AKP, Erdoğan
Bosnian media outlets have reported that Erdoğan’s longtime ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) is planning to open a representative office in Bosnia soon.
“We will show that he [Erdoğan] has friends and there are those who are proud of him,” said Bakir Izetbegovic, the Muslim member of Bosnia’s tripartite presidency, told his supporters last week.
Erdoğan is “not liked in the West and there are many who do not like him in this country [because] he is a powerful Muslim leader that we have not had for a long time,” Izetbegovic said.
The Turkish president called snap presidential and parliamentary elections for June 24, bringing the polls forward by a year-and-a-half, following a call from Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli, who has become closely allied with the AKP.
Half of Bosnia’s 3.5 million citizens are Muslims, a third are Serbs, while Croats make some 15 percent of the population.
