Turkish President and the ruling party AKP's chairman Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was in Rize this weekend for his campaign rally, for the upcoming local elections on March 31.
Erdoğan criticized the opposition parties CHP and pro-Kurdish HDP, accusing them to unite against the AKP and fascist MHP coalition. Stressing that the main opposition CHP is identified with Atatürk and calling itself the party of Atatürk, Erdoğan said "they are only talking about Atatürk? They have nothing to do with Atatürk. Are you ready to slap this CHP with the Ottoman style?"
Erdoğan also criticized the opposition because "they want to spread a pessimism among people to make space for themselves".
"They do everything to demoralize our people. Now, they are talking about unemployment. We were under a great economic attack in August. Because of this, there was a small decrease in employment opportunities," he said.
Promising that the inflation rate will be reduced to 6-7 percent, Erdoğan said: "19-20 percent inflation does not befit our dignity and we will lower the rate if God permits."
