Erdogan stresses national unity against threats

By Ali Kemal Akan and Yildiz Aktas

ANKARA (AA) - Turkey’s president on Tuesday called on lawmakers, political parties and the entire nation to unite against threats, attacks, and traps aiming to destroy national unity of 82 million people.

Speaking to lawmakers at a fast-breaking dinner at the parliament, Erdogan said: “We are inviting each one of our 82 million people to meet on ‘Turkey’s common ground’.”

He said the political competition should not hinder togetherness in the country.

On May 6, Turkey’s Supreme Election Council (YSK) announced a do-over election in Istanbul to be held on June 23.

It accepted the AK Party's objection to the local election results in Istanbul with seven votes in favor and four against.

YSK said the decision was based on the fact that some officials presiding over ballot boxes in the province during at the elections were not civil servants as is required by law.

Millions of Turkish voters cast their votes nationwide on March 31 in local elections to choose mayors, city council members, and other officials for the next five years.

“If we can overcome security threats that we face today, economic attacks and traps aimed at destroying our national unity, we will hopefully be living in an utterly different Turkey in 2023,” Erdogan said.

Underlining the importance of lawmakers and political parties’ role, Erdogan said, “Let’s spoil this big game” that targets the national unity of Turkey.