Islamist party leader: Erdoğan pushed me to opposition alliance

Islamist Felicity Party (Saadet) leader Temel Karamollaoğlu has said that he was not initially planning to be in the opposition’s alliance but his meetings with President Erdoğan forced him to do so.

Tuesday September 27 2022 01:02 pm

This file photo shows Felicity Party leader Karamollaoğlu (L) and President Erdoğan (R).

Duvar English

Leader of Islamist Felicity Party (Saadet) Temel Karamollaoğlu has said that his meetings with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan made him to be in the opposition’s alliance.

Karamollaoğlu told Hande Fırat from the daily Hürriyet that he wasn’t initially planning on being in such an alliance with six parties but it happened “as a result of our conversations with President Erdoğan.”

“We agreed to disagree. In a way, Erdoğan pushed me to join the opposition's alliance.”

The leaders of six opposition parties, including the Republican People’s Party (CHP), İYİ (Good) Party, Felicity (Saadet) Party, Democrat Party, DEVA (Democracy and Progress) Party, and Future (Gelecek) Party, have had roundtable meetings several times.

The leaders signed the declaration on Feb. 28, pledging to bring back a parliamentary democracy and scrap the executive presidential system introduced by Erdoğan in 2018.