Main opposition leader says secularism is always violated in Turkey

The leader of Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) said on Tuesday that secularism was always violated in Turkey, Anadolu News Agency reported.

Kemal Kilicdaroglu said belief was not a matter of politics, and should never be so.

"I can say that I have concerns about Turkey's being a social state and I have some concerns about secularism," Kilicdaroglu said at the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Kilicdaroglu said his concerns were mainly because of Turkey's violating rules from time to time, and also because Turkey was focusing on beliefs and ethnic identities in politics.

"Turkey is a secular state as long as we do respect beliefs of every one and do not make these beliefs the focal point of politics," he said.

Kilicdaroglu enumerated his party's new policies as passing a political ethics law, enabling the retired to get a share from the rise in national income, giving small and medium scale enterprises loan with zero interest rate, and implementing projects in the Eastern and Southeastern Anatolia regions.

He also listed CHP's economic policies as re-building social state, increasing Turkey's competitive power and ensuring permanent economic stability.The CHP leader said he favored solution of Cyprus issue through compromise, and the European Union (EU) should be behind its promise to implement a direct trade regulation with the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC).

"A solution should not be unilateral, and we favor settlement of the issue through a compromise not an imposition, and we want the UN to take active action," Kilicdaroglu also said.

Kilicdaroglu is expected to complete his talks and depart from Britain on Wednesday evening.


/Trend/