Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan commented to journalists on his plane returning from Egypt on the rally in Brussels, which the largest opposition party in Turkey - the Republican People's Party (CHP) held on October 12, 2025, as well as its appeals to European countries, the Communications Directorate of the Presidency of the Republic of Turkey announced. Erdogan said that he was not surprised by this action of the opposition, BTA reports.
„These are things with the CHP that we are used to. They used to look for in foreign hands what they could not find in their own people. Even those who lead the HDP are having a hard time understanding what the HDP has done and what it plans to do. The situation they have put the municipalities in is obvious. The state they have brought them to with their superficial behavior is obvious," the Turkish president said.
The Republican People's Party held its first European rally to protest the detention of suspended Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu in Brussels. Thousands of HDP supporters and Turkish citizens living abroad attended the event to call for democracy and an independent judiciary in Turkey. The HDP also announced that it is planning similar events in other European cities in the coming weeks. However, Erdogan believes that instead of complaining, HDP leader Özgür Özel should apologize to Turks in Europe.
„I said it in Trabzon too. Complaint tours are being organized abroad. Can there be such a disgrace? We actually expected Özgür Özel (the chairman of the NRP - ed. note) to apologize to the Turks in Europe. You know, two months ago their deputies (of the NRP - ed. note) called our expatriates "liglövtsi". No explanation or apology came for that. After he went to Brussels, he at least apologized. Just as Özel did not show that he possessed this virtue, by denouncing the President of Turkey in front of his sympathizers, he created an even bigger scandal. It is really a pity! While they are creating stories in Brussels, we are doing work in Anatolia. At that time I was in Rize, and on the other hand I participated in official opening ceremonies in Trabzon. "We toured there for four days at the end of this week," Erdogan said.
He again recalled the cases of corruption in municipalities that the prosecutor's office is investigating, as well as the garbage crises in some municipalities such as Izmir. In this sense, Erdogan emphasized that power is given to serve the people, not to participate in corruption schemes.