11 members of Turkiye’s opposition resign over candidate’s anti-refugee rhetoric

Eleven co-founding members of Turkiye’s opposition Future Party, the main component of the Six-Party opposition coalition, have resigned in protest against the anti-refugee rhetoric of Nation Alliance candidate, Kemal  Kilicdaroglu.

A member of the Future Party’s Board of Directors and senior adviser to the party’s chairman, Bayram Zilan, announced the collective resignation, explaining that the members are very disappointed by the emergence of contradictions between the party’s programme and practices, stressing that the party has turned into a bloc where merit and work are ignored.

“We no longer want to be the human source of personal ambitions because our goal is to make clean politics,” Turkiye’s CNN reported Zilan as saying.

He pointed out that the results of the first round of the presidential elections held on 14 May were full of lessons, stressing that the members who resigned from the party will stand against those who promise to load refugees onto trucks and deport them.

“We will be against violence and terrorism, against blood and hatred,” he said in a clear indication of support for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the second round of the presidential elections.

WATCH: ‘This is a Turkish Republic; go back to your own country’

Kilicdaroglu’s hostile remarks against Syrian refugees have sparked controversy across Turkiye, some claim he has adopted the policy of far-right parties in an attempt to win more votes in the second round of the presidential elections.

The Istanbul municipality published banners in Taksim Square showing Kilicdaroglu with the phrase “Syrians will leave … make your decision,” written next to him in an attempt to attract votes.

Kilicdaroglu has also appeared in a new video on his Twitter account, calling on Turkish voters to make their decision regarding the presence of ten million Syrians in their country, claiming that the number could rise to 20 million if he does not win the presidential elections.