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Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, presidential candidate of Turkey's main opposition bloc, has criticized President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for labeling Kurds as terrorists in order to secure more nationalist votes ahead of the May 14 elections.
In a Twitter video he released late yesterday (April 17), Kılıçdaroğlu accused Erdoğan of spending millions of liras on social media trolls who treat Kurds as terrorists.
"Millions of Kurds are now being treated as terrorists. Trolls are labeling Kurds as terrorists to humiliate me. They are alienating our people from the state. For what? For a handful of votes," he remarked.
Kılıçdaroğlu urged people not to be fooled by propaganda and to remember the "fraternal bond" between Turks and Kurds, emphasizing that he would never allow anyone to harm this fraternity for the sake of a few votes.
Kılıçdaroğlu's remarks were apparently in response to accusations from the government circles that he was "collaborating with terrorists," referring to the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP). The government accuses the HDP of being the legal wing of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
The HDP has opted not to field a candidate for the upcoming presidential election, which is seen as indirect support for Kılıçdaroğlu.
Government officials have repeatedly referred to the HDP as the "secret seventh member" of the six-party Nation's Alliance, with the intention of steering nationalist voters away from the opposition. (VK)
