Turkish opposition leader Kilicdaroglu: “Our democracy has bled dry”

Kemal Kilicdaroglu could become Turkey’s next president. In the daily topics-Interview he talks about his plans for a different Turkey, about the repatriation of Syrian refugees – and about similarities with Chancellor Scholz.

daily topics: Mr. Kilicdaroglu, you are announcing nothing less than restoring democracy in Turkey. How is it supposed to work, just to handle 20 years of arbitrariness and corruption?

Kemal Kilicdaroğlu: In these 20 years our democracy has bled dry. Our alliance of six has come together to rebuild this, to restore democracy. What brought us together is the longing for democracy. This country needs democracy. Young people in particular are calling for it more and more loudly.

Turkey has lost a lot of vitality because there was no democracy and all power was in one person. We have big economic problems. To fix that and restore democracy, we want to introduce a strengthened parliamentary system.

We will change the constitution. We will pass a law on political ethics. There’s a lot we still have to tackle. And we will fully implement all the democratic standards of the European Union – without waiting for the EU to open a new chapter.

“Nobody should be jailed for speaking their mind”

daily topics: What happens, for example, to the politically imprisoned – will you pardon them?

Kilicdaroğlu: With regard to the politically imprisoned, the European Court of Human Rights has ruled: They must be released from prison! But Erdogan is putting pressure on the Turkish judiciary. That’s why they’re still in jail. If these European judgments were implemented, everyone would be free anyway.

In 21st century Turkey, no one should be imprisoned for speaking their mind. We categorically reject a Turkey in which freedom of expression is punished with imprisonment.

“Will conclude an agreement with the government of Syria”

daily topics: Let’s talk about the EU. You have announced that you intend to send the four million Syrian refugees in Turkey back home. Do you want to withdraw from the refugee agreement with the EU?

Kilicdaroğlu: We have four million Syrian refugees. And we’ve been hosting them for years. But they all work in Turkey without insurance. But what will become of them tomorrow when they are old? Here we have a duty to shape a policy that not only focuses on the present, but also on the future.

Here’s how we want to do it: As for the Syrians here, first we’re going to make an agreement with the legitimate government of Syria. We will open embassies to each other. We will guarantee the local Syrians life and property security if they return to their homeland. If necessary, the United Nations should also intervene here.

Furthermore, when Syrians living in Turkey are returned to Syria, we will rebuild their roads, bridges, schools, kindergartens, everything. So that they can return to their home country without any worries. Our goal is: These people should be able to live freely in their own country.

In addition, they also need work there. Our industrial entrepreneurs from Gaziantep will invest in Syria. We would be very happy if the Europeans wanted to do the same. The Syrians can then come back to Turkey as holidaymakers or spend their holidays in Germany.

But what if we don’t do any of that? Within the next few years, many of these people will age. That will then be a problem not only for us, but also for the EU. We should not continue with today’s short-sighted politics. With a long-term policy, we want to send these people back to their home countries. Or rather, don’t send it back, say goodbye.

We are against racism. In no case do we harbor resentments against them, because we have family ties.

daily topics: Many of those who are there belong to the opposition in Syria and by no means want to go back into the arms of the ruler Assad, they want to join the EU. And then you get a problem with the EU.

Kilicdaroğlu: I spoke to Syrian opinion leaders here. Likewise with the leaders of some political parties and with some journalists who publish from here and criticize the legitimate Syrian government. If we ensure the security of life and property, if employment opportunities are created there, then they say they would voluntarily go back to their home country anyway.

“Snatch Turkey from an authoritarian government”

daily topics: For almost 20 years, Turkey was ruled by a man who presented himself as a great father figure, who is considered a great rhetorician, a great demagogue. You’re practically the complete opposite, even being named Bureaucrat of the Year by a financial newspaper. Are you Türkiye’s Olaf Scholz?

Kilicdaroğlu: It’s an honor for me to be like Olaf Scholz. In fact, I’m a quiet person. Not easily short-tempered. I focus on an existing problem. try to solve it But I also share my solution to this problem with the population.

Obtaining the support of the population is therefore important to me. Because: Where someone who is not a democrat has gone, where an authoritarian government has led Turkey, not only we, but meanwhile the whole world has seen that. That is why we six opposition parties have come together to wrest Turkey from authoritarian leadership. And to fight for the introduction of all the democratic standards envisaged by the EU.

This fight won’t last much longer. In exactly one week Turkey will enter a new phase. Politically we say: spring is coming in Turkey.

Caren Miosga, daily topics, conducted the interview