Erdogan brags about feeding his people

Shaimaa Hefzi

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has decried the Turkish people for not voting for his party in the local elections and he even bragged about feeding his people.

Erdogan, who is the President of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) which is seeking a third tenure, told AKP’s representatives in Istanbul that his party has fed “the stomachs of the people who did not vote for it”.

Erdogan said his party would concentrate on the minds of people rather than on their stomachs. “We filled the stomachs of all people, but as you see they did not vote for you,” he said.

Erdogan decried Abdullah Gul and Ahmet Davutoglu for their criticism of his decree to cancel the electoral results in Istanbul. Erdogan’s party lost the local elections in major municipalities such as Antalya, Ankara and Istanbul.

The party filed a number of appeals to the High Elections Commission for alleged fraud during the local elections in Istanbul. The Commission set June 23 for a re-run.

The AKP lost Istanbul for the first time in 25 years, despite securing a majority win in the local elections which was held on March 31.

Meanwhile, the Turkish opposition is mobilizing for a serious and decisive confrontation with the AKP in Istanbul.

The Turkish opposition newspaper Zaman said the Republican People’s Party (CHP) would defeat the ruling AKP in the coming re-run.