15 June 2018•Update: 15 June 2018
By Hanife Sevinc, Emin Ileri and Huseyin Kulaoglu
ISTANBUL
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday criticized the opposition parties for failing to address the fight against terrorism.
Addressing an election rally in Istanbul after Eid al-Fitr prayers, Erdogan said that so far the opposition, especially main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) and its presidential candidate Muharrem Ince did not include the fight against terrorism in their campaigns.
"Did you ever hear them talking about the fight against terrorism, especially Ince? There is no fight against terrorism in their books, but in ours," he said.
Erdogan also said that the opposition "does not care" about major issues regarding Turkey such as economy, health, education, tourism and transportation.
Pledging his fight against terrorism, Erdogan also reminded the ongoing operation in Qandil.
In its fight against terrorism, Turkey has launched operations in both Qandil and Sinjar regions in northern Iraq, Erdogan said on Monday.
Reminding that there are only eight days left to the elections, Erdogan said that the day of election will be a "festival of democracy".
Last April, the parliament passed a bill for early elections on June 24, cementing Turkey’s move to a presidential system.
In the April 2017 referendum, Turkish voters had approved the switch from a parliamentary system to a presidential one.
Six candidates are running for president, while eight political parties are taking part in the parliamentary elections.
Erdogan has served as president since 2014 -- Turkey's first popularly elected president. Before that, he served as prime minister, from 2003 to 2014.
