Turkey’s main opposition leader Özgür Özel on Tuesday accused President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of becoming “part of a new American plan” as fighting around Iran escalates, and said Ankara should push for diplomacy rather than align with Washington and Israel.
Özel, chairman of the Republican People’s Party (CHP), delivered the remarks during his party’s weekly parliamentary group meeting in Ankara, where he criticized the government’s handling of regional tensions and its posture toward the administration of US President Donald Trump.
In his speech Özel said the CHP opposes Iran’s system of governance and rights record but rejected outside military intervention without international authorization, arguing that Iran’s future should be decided by people living in Iran and the region.
He also pointed to civilian casualties, saying that “150 girls have died in America’s bombing” and complained that the world was not paying enough attention.
Özel accused the Turkish government of remaining silent toward Washington, saying the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) “doesn’t make a beep to the Trump administration,” “sits at the same table with Israel in Gaza” and does not respond to what he called the US ambassador’s humiliating approach.
Linking current tensions to Turkey’s 2003 debate over allowing US troops to use Turkish territory to open a northern front in the Iraq invasion, a motion that failed in parliament on March 1, 2003, Özel argued that Erdoğan had pressed for cooperation with Washington then and was again being drawn into a US-led regional strategy now.
“Erdoğan today is part of a new American plan,” Özel said, adding that Erdoğan “has neither a game plan nor does he see the game,” while Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “know what they are doing.”
Özel said the crisis should be resolved by returning to the “diplomacy table” and urged Turkey to be “persistent” in pressing that path.