Turkish President Erdoğan ‘reacts’ to top businessman’s words

Hacer Boyacıoğlu ANKARA

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan reacts to TÜSİAD’s Chairman Haluk Dinçer’s (above) words about PM being TÜSİAD’s addressee and not the president

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has again reacted to Turkey’s top business organization’s chairman’s words that their addressee was the prime minister and not the president, saying he would not attend TÜSİAD’S meetings anymore.

Erdoğan said if the presidential post is not the addressee of the Turkish Industry and Business Association (TÜSİAD), then he, as president, would not attend TÜSAİD’s meeting, adding that the association would need to find an addressee to attend the meetings; news sources have reported Erdoğan as saying on Dec. 29 at the Confederation of Turkish Labor Unions’ (Türk-İş) meeting.

In an interview with daily Hürriyet on Dec. 29, TÜSİAD Chairman Haluk Dinçer had said the organization did not have any problems with Erdoğan, but that “TÜSİAD’s addressee is not the president, but the prime minister and the ministers related to our field,” while touching upon the current condition of relations with Erdoğan.

The relationship between Erdoğan and TÜSİAD, Turkey’s most influential business group, has always been thorny, but Erdoğan’s attendance at the organization’s High Consultation Council meeting on Sept. 18 was seen by many as possibly marking a thaw in the chilly relations.

It is yet to be seen how this row between Dinçer and Erdoğan will affect TÜSİAD’s relations with the president and the government.