Do not feel intimidated by referendum: Main opposition leader

The upcoming referendum will be a chance to display a stance against the oppression of naysayers, main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has said, noting that the "no" voters should never feel intimidated. 

"On the contrary, there should be resistance against oppression, and the ballot should be the place for this. A lesson should be given to those who are oppressing voices at the polls," Kılıçdaroğlu told Doğan News Agency on Feb. 23. 

He criticized the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) for stirring further polarization in the society by smearing the naysayers. 

"If you want the citizens of a country to be hostile to each other and compete against each other, you would need to use that kind of language. And they did that. But it has backfired. We will go and vote to prove them wrong," he said. 

"If you label everyone who will be voting 'no' as terrorists, then what kind of an embracing language are you using? How would you govern the country," Kılıçdaroğlu said in reference to Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım, who had earlier said that his party aimed at "embracing all people."

"I do not consider all naysayers as terrorists. But it is a fact that the CHP is saying 'no,' just like the terrorist PKK [outlawed Kurdistan Worker's Party] and FETÖ [Fethullahist Terror Organization]," Yıldırım said Feb. 22. 

Kılıçdaroğlu said the CHP considered all the people of the country, regardless of their votes in the referendum, as "their own citizens."

"All the citizens who vote 'yes' or 'no' are my own citizens and they are both more than welcome," he added.  
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