Turkish government should be held ‘responsible for economic crisis,’ CHP leader says

ISTANBUL

Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader has accused the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) of running unsuccessful economic policies, adding that the country possesses a potential to overcome problems.

“They have been seeking to find out who will bear the responsibility of the crisis. Foreign powers, the CHP, the shopkeepers, they said! They even pointed to the terrorists. But actually it is those people who have been ruling the country for 17 years who should be held responsible for the economic crisis,” Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu said at a party meeting in Istanbul on Feb. 25.

“We are now in the middle of the crisis. The crisis has hit the real sector very recently. Unemployment will increase,” he added in his speech on the Turkish economy.

The depreciation of the Turkish Lira peaked in August 2018, bringing the decrease in the currency’s value to about 30 percent in 2018. The inflation rate hit the highest level in 15 years with 25.2 percent in October 2018. Although the consumer price index eased to 20.4 percent in January, the surge in food prices has continued, prompting the government to start a program to sell vegetables at discount via some municipalities.

The CHP leader urged the government to ensure the “rule of law” as a first measure to calm the markets.

“We have to strengthen participatory democracy. It is the main condition to have a say in the world. There is no country in the world which has made progress and developed without a developed democracy,” Kılıçdaroğlu said.

He also called on the government to give priority to “production” over imports and borrowing in order to create a “social state.”

Kılıçdaroğlu went on to say that all parties in parliament should collaborate for legislations that would ensure European Union standards in the country.