A former advisor to Erdogan indirectly criticizes him

Former Turkish presidential advisor Bulent Arinc implicitly criticized Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a meeting with young human rights defenders in Konya.

Speaking about the economic situation and unemployment in Turkey, he said: “Some describe themselves as economists, but I see myself as an experienced human rights lawyer.”

He added, “Let me make it clear that graduating from a law school is not enough to become a jurist… I see these clowns on TV channels where they are described as jurists and university professors. Law is an important thing and a standard thing.”

He continued, “Tact is the language of politics, and that the language of politics embraces everyone with a face… You cannot use the language of violence in politics. The language of violence lies in threats, insults and defamation.”

Some considered Arinc’s talk about some describing themselves as economists as an implicit reference to President Erdogan, who describes himself as an “economist”, while the opposition accuses him of “destroying the economy because of his unusual fiscal policy.”