Main opposition MP slams granddaughter of Ottoman sultan over parliamentary system remarks

ANKARA

Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) lawmaker Özgür Özel has rebuked Nilhan Osmanoğlu, one of the descendants of Ottoman Sultan Abdülhamid II, after she showed her support for the presidential system. 

“If Atatürk hadn’t existed you would have obviously still been alive. But you wouldn’t have known which wife of an Ottoman General you would be, and he would’ve certainly been chosen by your father,” Özel said.  

He said Osmanoğlu’s grandfather was an enemy of the parliamentary system. 

“If I say Mrs. Nilhan’s grandfather was the sultan that lost the most territory in our history, she would be offended. Her grandfather gave Cyprus away to the British without battling for it. The one who lost all the islands on Aegean Sea is indeed her grandfather. But we will leave this to the historians,” he said.  

Osmanoğlu had earlier called for the presidential system, saying that she “had enough” of Turkey’s current parliamentary system and criticized CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu.

“I say ‘yes’ to not abandon our president, unlike how Sultan Abdülhamid was left alone. There are a number of reasons for this decision. I saw that the parliamentary system has caused damages on my people. Wasn’t Adnan Menderes and his supporters hanged because of the parliamentary system? Was Turgut Özal not trapped in the Çankaya Palace because of this system? Nobody was there to help him when he was poisoned. Is this a democratic state?” she said.