ANKARA
Holding presidential elections while 49 Turkish consular staff and their families are being held hostage by militants in Iraq is "pointless” an opposition lawmaker has said.
Umut Oran, a deputy for the opposition Republican People’s Party, told journalists on Thursday that he would seek to have the media blackout surrounding the hostages lifted by the constitutional court.
Turkey’s broadcasting authority, the Radio and Television Supreme Council, prohibited any news broadcasts about the hostages after they were captured by ISIL-led militants in Mosul on June 11.
Referring to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the ruling Justice and Development Party’s candidate in next month’s election, Oran said: "What can be a more important priority and agenda for Prime Minister Erdogan than the 49 citizens. Holding the presidential election is pointless in this atmosphere."
Turks go to the polls on August 10 to vote in the first direct presidential elections. Erdogan is widely viewed as the strongest candidate.
Iraq has seen a marked escalation in tension as a coalition of armed groups led by ISIL, the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, have taken control of large swathes of Iraq's predominantly Sunni provinces.
www.aa.com.tr/en
