Government ally Erbakan argues climate change 'exaggerated'

Duvar English

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s ally, radical Islamist New Welfare Party (YRP) leader and parliamentary deputy Fatih Erbakan on Sept. 13 argued that the climate change “is exaggerated and distorted.” 

Erbakan told TV100 during a live broadcast that “there is no increase in temperature as much as exaggerated.”

“Moreover, drought does not occur with hot weather, it occurs with cold weather. Scientists have very good explanations and scientific articles about this. They say there will be global warming, there will be hunger, there will be famine. However, warming does not prevent rain. On the contrary, it does not rain at -20°C, there is drought (at that temperature),” he argued.

Going further, Erbakan added “((They want to) slaughter cows using this excuse (of climate change). They say that (cows) ‘emit greenhouse gases and contribute to global warming.’ However, research shows that if seaweed is added to cows' feed, this will be prevented by 80 percent. Of course, our concern here is our food security and the ability of eight billion people to grow their own products without being dependent. What is being done under the pretext of global warming is to make people eat lab-grown meat.”

Erbakan also said there might be new lockdowns like in the coronavirus pandemic due to the climate change.

Known for expressing conspiracy theories, Erbakan previously argued that COVID-19 vaccine recipients could birth babies that are half monkey, or have birth defects like three ears or five eyes.

He also claimed that learning about the theory of evolution makes people “Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) members” and “communists.”

Erbakan’s YRP entered the 2023 general elections under the ruling People’s Alliance, and received 2.81 percent of the votes, having five seats in the parliament.