Turkey: Tension Between Government and Opposition Heats Up over Syria Policy
It's not a stretch to say that the two leaders of Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) loath each other. But the two, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of the AKP and the CHP's Kemal Kilicdaroglu, have in recent days started taking things to new heights.
During a recent round of meetings in Brussels, Kilicdaroglu, who heads the secularist CHP, likened Erdogan to Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, saying there were only "shades of difference" between the two. "Both are oppressive, both have special courts and prosecutors. Media bosses call and ask which journalist is to be put [in jail]. Instructions are given to media. What difference do they have in terms of democracy?" Kilicdaroglu told reporters.
Erdogan, in turn, is suing his political rival for defamation, asking for one million Turkish lira (about $560,000) in compensation. Even more sensationally, the PM is accusing the CHP of being in bed with some of the individual who were behind the May 11 twin bombings that rocked the city of Reyhanli, located near the Syrian border, and killed 51 people. Reports Today's Zaman:
According to the prime minister, the government and security forces have documents that clearly prove the claim that the two suspected bombers were the same men that drove a CHP delegation to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's residence in March.
Claims emerged earlier this week that the CHP delegation was driven to Assad's residence by two men who later participated in twin car bombings that killed 51 people in Reyhanlı on May 11. The police confirmed the reports.
“The CHP has gone to Damascus more than to Diyarbakır; they had a family photo with Assad,” Erdoğan told members of his ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) in a meeting on Friday. Diyarbakır is predominantly Kurdish and Erdoğan frequently slams the opposition for ignoring eastern Turkey and says the opposition does not represent the entire country.
“We have documents that show that the men who took them to Assad were involved in the Reyhanlı attack,” the prime minister stated, and added, “Those who accompanied [the CHP delegation to Syria] were actually those who carried out the Reyhanlı bombings.”
Erdogan's accusations against the CHP may be just another round in the slugfest between the AKP and the CHP, but they also tell us the election season in Turkey has officially begun. The next two years will see see local, national and presidential elections in Turkey and the parties are already jockeying for position, with Syria clearly emerging as a major wedge issue. In the wake of the Reyhanli bombings, which left many Turks wondering if Ankara's Syria policy is dangerously drawing Turkey into the Syria quagmire, the Syrian issue has become a domestic political liability for the AKP. That said, The CHP, as its March visit with Assad and Kilicdaroglu's off-base comparison of Erdogan and Assad shows, has yet to figure out what it means to have a coherent policy regarding Syria or how to use the AKP's own failures regarding Syria to its advantage.
There have been recent warnings that the conflict in Syria could soon spill over into Turkey. As the fight between Erdogan and Kilicdaroglu show, in the political sphere, it already has.
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