Opposition chair 'welcomes Interior Minister Soylu to the club' following tweet that insulted his mother  

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Opposition İYİ (Good) Party leader Meral Akşener has said that although she does not in any way approve of insults directed towards Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu's mother, opposition figures have been constantly going through such experiences.

“I would not have wanted Soylu to experience the same things; he is after all an interior minister. In my understanding of the state, these [insults towards mothers] should not happen. I respect the mother figures, but an interior minister cannot also complain on social media. Welcome to our club [Soylu],” Akşener told reporters in the capital Ankara on Jan. 21.

“There is this club in Turkey in which many of us are in, which I am also a part of since a long time ago. Our mothers have been sworn at; several ugly comments have been made against me,” she also said.

İYİ Party leader's statements came after Soylu blasted the judiciary for not arresting the social media user who insulted his mother. 

"My mother has been in the hospital for 45 days. This vile person who swore underneath the picture of me and my mother was brought to court and freed on condition of judicial control," Soylu tweeted on Jan. 20. 

"What should I do? What difference does it make that I'm a minister? What's the meaning when I can't protect my mother's honor while I deal with the issues of the people and the state?" he further asked. 

In response, Justice Minister Abdülhamit Gül said that he would not receive orders to arrest people, in a clear reference to Soylu's remarks.

"I'm addressing those who give orders to me to arrest people on social media: The Turkish Republic is a state of law," Gül said on Jan. 21.

Akşener denies claims of alliance with pro-Kurdish HDP

Meanwhile, Akşener also commented on claims of an alliance with the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), saying: “It is out of the question that we come side by side with the HDP.”

“The HDP entered the June 24 [2018] elections on its own and came out third. If people follow the politics like mathematics, they would see what is happening. I say it once again, it entered on its own and came out third,” Akşener said.

She also commented on the People's Alliance (“Cumhur İttifakı”) between the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), describing it to be much stronger and “emotional” than the Nation Alliance (“Millet İttifakı”).

"The People's Alliance is an alliance that is to the death, to the grave, an alliance as if it is one party, an emotional alliance," she said. 

“Our alliance does not resemble their system. Ours is realistic and one which has been established according to the voters' demands. We have gotten tired of explaining this, but will keep explaining.” 

İYİ Party is part of the Nation Alliance established with the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), the Felicity Party and the Democrat Party.