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Turkish PM Erdoğan blames opposition for Hopa clashes

02 June 2011 [10:00] - TODAY.AZ
The Turkish prime minister issued harsh criticism Wednesday of the chief of the main opposition Republican People’s Party, or CHP, accusing him of provoking violence in the country’s northeast.

"CHP supporters have acted together with some other legal and illegal organizations in order not to let us enter Hopa. These are open provocations to drag the [ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP] into a trap of violence," Erdoğan said in Istanbul on Wednesday, vowing not to fall into the snare.

The prime minister blamed the CHP for the clashes that broke out between local police and protesters Tuesday in the northeastern district of Hopa. A 54-year-old protester died from a heart attack during the clashes, reportedly because of the intense tear-gas bombs used by police.

"The anger, hate speech, provocations and insults [from opposition leaders] have unfortunately prepared the ground for such incidents," Erdoğan said.

The clashes in Hopa, a district of Artvin, have been the latest subject of pre-election disputes between the prime minister and the leaders of the CHP and the Nationalist Movement Party, or MHP.

Speaking during a meeting in Istanbul where he promoted his party’s projects for Istanbul, İzmir and the southeastern city of Diyarbakır, Erdoğan said his ruling AKP was targeted by "open provocations."

"These are city bandits carrying stones and sticks. One of our policemen was hit by a stone while they were throwing stones at us [in Hopa]; he was heavily injured and is in the hospital’s intensive care unit now," Erdoğan said.

Speaking about Metin Lokumcu, the protester who died Tuesday and was laid to rest Wednesday, Erdoğan said: "They are saying one died because of a heart attack; I don’t know who he is."

CHP chief Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu said he would be visiting Lokumcu’s home to convey his condolences to the man’s family. "Erdoğan is trying to rule society by creating tension. But the one who sows the wind reaps a whirlwind," Kılıçdaroğlu said during an election meeting in the Central Anatolian province of Yozgat.

MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli also responded angrily to Erdoğan’s claims about the opposition parties trying to provoke the AKP to violence. "The prime minister doesn’t know what he is talking about. I think he came to a point where he cannot realize what he is talking about because of the exhausting election activities and TV programs," Bahçeli said.

‘Kılıçdaroğlu insulted God,’ says Erdoğan

As the tensions rose between the leaders of the ruling and opposition parties, Erdoğan make a sharp response to Kılıçdaroğlu’s recent statement. “He said ‘the one who sows the wind reaps a whirlwind’ about me. I have never seen such a shameless, immoral and low-down attitude,” the prime minister said.

Erdoğan accused Kılıçdaroğlu of "insulting the people, people’s choices and moral values," adding that the CHP leader "even insulted God."

Riot police fired water cannons and tear gas a day earlier as they battled stone-throwing protesters in the Black Sea town of Hopa, where Erdoğan was campaigning. Lokumcu, a retired teacher, died due a heart attack brought on by exposure to tear gas and panic, an initial autopsy has said. A bodyguard was injured as he fell from Erdoğan’s campaign bus after apparently being hit by a stone.

Artvin Gov. Mustafa Yemlihanoğlu said Police Chief Muhsin Arman has been recalled to Ankara, and Hüsrev Salmaner has been appointed as the province’s new police chief, the Anatolia news agency reported.

Interior Minister Beşir Atalay criticized Artvin’s governor and chief of police Tuesday for not taking the necessary measures to prevent the protests.

Lokumcu’s funeral was held Wednesday in Hopa after the autopsy was finished in Trabzon. People at the funeral chanted, “We are all bandits,” referring to Erdoğan’s previous description of the protesters.

Alper Taş, the leader of the pro-socialist Freedom and Solidarity Party, or ÖDP, said they had "lost a revolutionary brother."

"A retired teacher has been killed by the police force. It is the mentality of the AKP, which is the real bandit," said Selahattin Demirtaş, an independent candidate supported by the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party, or BDP.


/Hurriyet Daily News/
URL: http://www.today.az/news/regions/87352.html

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