Commenting on an ongoing debate over a switch to an executive presidency on Saturday, main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) Chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu said the system of governance cannot be changed simply due to the desire of one man, in reference to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s ambitions for a new system in Turkey.
Speaking at a party workshop on the constitution in Ankara, Kılıçdaroğlu claimed that a possible change in system is determined by the historical and sociological conditions of the country and said Turkey’s basic problem is that the country has been run by people with shallow cultural information and who do not know its history.
“What will happen to the concept that is called the poison of power?” Kılıçdaroğlu asked as he referred to the example of Hitler, who concentrated all power in his hands and dragged his country into disaster. He said Turkey had almost adopted norms similar to those of Hitler’s Germany.
Kılıçdaroğlu also criticized the imprisonment of 142 journalists following a July 15 failed coup. “You cannot talk about media freedoms if 142 journalists are in prison,” Kılıçdaroğlu stated, adding that it violates the constitution.
