AKP criticizes New Party over Erdoğan walkout

ANKARA

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has criticized lawmakers from the main opposition New Party for leaving parliament ahead of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s address marking the opening of the new legislative year.

Party officials accused the lawmakers of disrespecting parliament, the presidency and the national will. The New Party group left the General Assembly hall as Erdoğan took the podium on Oct. 1

AKP spokesperson Ömer Çelik said Erdoğan’s address at the opening of a legislative year was one of the most important traditions of the state and parliament.

“New Party lawmakers leaving the General Assembly before our president’s speech began is disrespectful to our parliament and the office of the president,” Çelik said in a social media post.

He said the move was contradictory for politicians who frequently call for a stronger parliament.

Çelik also described Erdoğan’s speech as a significant address that offered strategic political assessments that would shape the coming period.

Türkiye’s Communications Director Burhanettin Duran also criticized the walkout, saying parliament is where different political views are discussed under the same roof.

“Democratic politics requires not only expressing your own views, but also tolerating different views and having the maturity to listen to the president elected by the people in the nation’s parliament,” he said in a statement.

New Party leader Özgür Özel later defended the decision to leave the chamber, saying his party was protesting Erdoğan rather than parliament itself.

“We protested the person who did wrong, who committed injustice and oppression,” Özel said.

He accused the government of targeting opposition figures and officials following the opposition’s victory in the 2024 local elections.

Özel also referred to the recent financial scandal involving investment funds, alleging that money invested by ordinary people in the stock market had been improperly funneled to senior party officials, ministers and bureaucrats.

“We turned our backs and left. If we come to power and do such wrongs, they should not listen to us either,” Özel said.