Opposition lies that one-man rule on way: President Erdoğan

ANKARA

Contentious constitutional amendments will not bring about a regime change, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has underlined, slamming the opposition for arguing that the charter would usher in a one-man regime. 

“Anyone who desires to bring the republic down will find our people and me in their path,” Erdoğan told village heads on Feb. 8, criticizing the Republican People’s Party (CHP) for making “false comments” on the charter.

“The leader of the [CHP] constantly says ‘regime change,’ but Turkey does not have that kind of problem,” he said. 

Arguing that the amendment was necessary, Erdoğan also slammed the opposition for contending that the charter violated the principle of the separation of powers by transferring the pillars of democracy to a single person. 

“They say there will be no parliament and that everything will be concentrated in one man. Have a heart! That is totally a lie!” he added. 

“No matter what they oppose, their troubles are not the interests of the country and the nation, and they are all trying to smear the head with false slogans, all because they do not know and cannot explain why they oppose [the changes],” he said, listing his interpretation of what each change will bring.

“The people will elect the president. The president will have the authority to assign the government from outside the parliament, and he can select from the parliament. In this way, the differentiation between the legislative and the executive will be guaranteed,” he said.

“This presidential governmental system is not for me; it does not require me to survive. Nobody should wonder; every system will create its own leader,” he said.