Turkey´s ruling party, main opposition engaged in religious debate

CHP Leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu gestures during a speech

Religion has become the latest sparring point in the pre-election debate between the ruling party and the main opposition after the prime minister attacked the opposition leader for using the word “Allah.”

“Allah of the status quo sits in Ankara,” Republican People’s Party, or CHP, chief Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu said last week, responding to criticism by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan that the CHP is a supporter of the status quo in the country.

The phrase Kılıçdaroğlu used in Turkish refers to “the top” or the “leader of something.”

The CHP chief “should know his limits,” Erdoğan said in response.

“The CHP has been insulting the religious values of our people,” the prime minister said. “First you say 99 percent of this country is Muslim, then you show disrespect to the transcendent creator of the universe. He [Kılıçdaroğlu] must apologize to the people for his remarks.”

The main opposition leader defended his words, saying it was a phrase commonly used in daily life, and pointing to a similar remark by the prime minister.

“He said he did not have an ‘Allah kuruş’ when he was accused of embezzlement. Can Allah’s name be used for materialism?” Kılıçdaroğlu asked. (A kuruş is one-100th of a Turkish Lira.)

Erdoğan said he used the phrase to mean he did not have any undeserved money.

“I very well know Allah’s name should not be used for other purposes, but it is a common phrase and I try to use local phrases when I travel in the country,” the CHP leader said. “For example, we use another phrase and say, ‘She is a beautiful woman, for Allah’s sake.’ The prime minister is exaggerating the situation because he believes he may profit from it.