ANKARA - "No matter how heavy it is, carrying the burden of democracy is an honor for us," said Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday.
Erdogan spoke at the group meeting of his Justice and Development (AK) Party in the Turkish parliament Wednesday.
"We are following our path by adding strength to our republic, people and government. We are doing this without going back from Turkey`s ideals which are to reach contemporary civilization level," noted Erdogan.
On the other hand he stressed that "the attitude displayed (by the opposition) during the presidential election rounds at the parliament was not against the AK Party but the Turkish people."
Prime Minister Erdogan underlined that the speeches of the chairman of the main opposition party Republican People`s Party (CHP) sends confusing messages.
"Is Deniz Baykal (Chairman of the CHP) giving messages of hope or is he spreading messages of fear? Is he sending messages of union or clashes?" he asked.
PM Erdogan indicated that "the final decision in Turkey rests with the Turkish people. No one or group has the power to divide Turkey into classes, camps and/or categories."
Erdogan also underscored that "the AK Party will respect the outcome of the national elections on July 22nd."
Prime Minister Erdogan remarked that there are photo shots of empty seats during the presidential voting. "We will tell our people about the seats that were left empty by the opposition", he said.
He added that if the opposition did not erect hurdles, Turkey would have been at a better position.