Main opposition head says Turkey has become 'harbor for terrorist sleeper cells'

CHP leader K?l?çdaro?lu claims that the AKP government has allowed Turkey to drift into a 'terror swamp' over the course of its 12 years in power. DHA Photo

Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) head Kemal K?l?çdaro?lu has claimed that Turkey has become a center for terrorist organization "sleeper cells."

"Turkey has become a center harboring terrorist organizations' sleeper cells. Ministers have started to make statements saying 'watch out for sleeper cells' one after another," said K?l?çdaro?lu in an interview with daily Hürriyet.

"The people who are saying this did not come to power just yesterday, they are the ones who have ruled for 12 years," he added.

K?l?çdaro?lu said the government had allowed the country to drift into a "terror swamp," claiming that the government "built its foreign policy on supporting terrorist organizations."

"For these reasons [Prime Minister Ahmet] Davuto?lu cannot govern the country. At this point [after] 12 years in power, there is a problem-making government, not a problem-solving government. The problems they make not only worry their citizens inside [the country], but are also a reason for anxiety in the modern world. There are great worries about Turkey," the CHP leader said. 

A former top official of Turkish intelligence, Cevat Öne?, had warned in a Jan. 10 interview with daily Cumhuriyet that jihadists were "highly likely" to activate their sleeper cells in Turkey in the face of the recent developments in the region, but especially in Syria and Iraq.

K?l?çdaro?lu said Ankara's unsuccessful foreign policy had led Turkey to be "isolated" from the rest of the world in a manner designated by the government as "precious loneliness."

"To tell the truth, Davuto?lu could not manage his Foreign Ministry post. I did not say that he was the most narrow-minded minister without a reason. He is in the same position as the...

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