Because party leaders decided not to talk about the government’s budget, the session ended in a relatively calm manner. An opposition party spokesman criticized the government’s policies on the economy.

“The government is trying to put the blame on external factors for the economic downturn. We have to do a DNA test to prove that this crisis in fact is a reproduction of the government,” said Oktay Vural, deputy leader of the Nationalist Movement Party, or MHP.

Mehmet Şandır from the MHP criticized the government’s move to solve the Kurdish question. “It’s very dangerous to create new identities by highlighting the differences that would spark street clashes,” Şandır said.

Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Çiçek and Industry Minister Nihat Ergün responded to the opposition’s criticism in separate speeches in Parliament.

/Huriyyet Daily News/