Main opposition leader stresses five problems of Turkey at Istanbul congress

Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has laid out what his party believes are pressing issues in Turkey: Democracy, education, foreign policy, economy and social policies.

"The first is democracy. One of the main problems we face today is [decline in] democracy. People cannot be imprisoned because he has expressed his opinion. Any thought should be freely spoken at universities. The media must be independent," he said, speaking at his party's Istanbul Provincial Congress on Feb. 9.

A second area Turkey is declining in, according to him, is the education system, which changes whenever a new minister takes helm.

"Our third problem is foreign policy. Foreign policy has turned into grudge and anger, a foreign policy prioritizing war, not peace. We live the results of this together with 82 million [population of Turkey]," he said.

Kılıçdaroğlu warned against a refugee influx from Idlib, Syria's last rebel bastion currently under mounting attacks from the Syrian regime's forces, saying that among some one million Syrian refugees "there could be members of terrorist groups."

Recalling the economic problems in Turkey, Kılıçdaroğlu stated the solution would only lie in production.

"Turkey should produce. Turkey should produce in factories, plants and universities. [Central Anatolian province of] Yozgat has plentiful lentil, we have to stop importing lentils," he stated.

The CHP leader stressed a strong social state must be built. "It is the merit that keeps the state alive. If you break the merit in the state, the state begins to rot," he said.