AKP filing criminal complaint against main opposition leader pursuing 'hatred politics'

Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) on Tuesday announced that is preparing to file a criminal complaint against the leader of the main opposition party, who is accused of conducting "hatred politics.’’

Remarks by Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, calling governors and district governors "militants’’ constitutes a crime, Hürriyet newspaper cited Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu during an AKP parliamentary meeting.

"We are going to file a criminal complaint against Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu,’’ Soylu said, while accusing the CHP leader of aligning with lawmakers accused of links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), an armed group that has been at war in Turkey for almost four decades.

Earlier on Tuesday, Kılçdaroğlu echoed remarks by a former CHP lawmaker, who is facing a lawsuit for allegedly defaming the government and judiciary over his remarks on a TV programme.

Berhan Şimşek accused governors and district governors of being militant while criticising government policies under Turkey’s ruling AKP.

AKP spokesman Ömer Çelik on Tuesday blasted Kılıçdaroğlu for conducting what he called "hatred politics.’’

"For the first time we are seeing that political party is leaving the confines of legitimacy and operating with a policy of destruction,’’ Çelik said. "Unfortunately, hate politics has been turned into a software programme by Kılıçdaroğlu.’’