Turkish Opposition Leader Calls for Unity to Oust Erdogan

Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu addresses his party MPs during a meeting at the Turkish parliament in Ankara on April 8, 2014. REUTERS/Umit Bektas
Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu addresses his party MPs during a meeting at the Turkish parliament in Ankara on April 8, 2014. REUTERS/Umit Bektas
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Turkish Opposition Leader Calls for Unity to Oust Erdogan

Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu addresses his party MPs during a meeting at the Turkish parliament in Ankara on April 8, 2014. REUTERS/Umit Bektas
Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu addresses his party MPs during a meeting at the Turkish parliament in Ankara on April 8, 2014. REUTERS/Umit Bektas

Opposition leader and President of the Republican People’s Party (CHP) Kemal Kilicdaroglu is calling on all Turkish parties, citizens, and democracy supporters to unite ranks to overthrow the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) headed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The AKP has been in power in Turkey for nearly two decades.

Kilicdaroglu said that all equality-loving citizens from all walks of life should come together and support democracy, regardless of what political party they had voted for in the past.

Apart from rallying for democracy, Kilicdaroglu reaffirmed the need for Turkey to hold early elections.

The CHP, which performed remarkably in the 2019 local elections, and other opposition parties have repeatedly demanded heading for early parliamentary and presidential elections to rid the country of the current economic deterioration.

They accuse the government of mismanagement and inability of providing solutions to crises sweeping the nation.

Kilicdaroglu, while inaugurating a number of projects implemented by the CHP-held municipality of Izmir, pledged to make several amendments during the first six months in office if his party wins the elections.

“We will solve the problems of hungry children and families with financial problems no matter what political party they support,” he vowed at the inauguration ceremony.

According to Kilicdaroglu, CHP municipalities provided quadruple the social assistance provided by the municipalities affiliated with the ruling party.

“We took care to preserve the dignity of those receiving this aid, and we did not show the poverty of the needy, nor did we display our aid to the poor and needy in front of the cameras, as the ruling party does,” he asserted.

Kilicdaroglu pledged to end poverty in Turkey, where he said he would not allow “any child to go to sleep hungry.”



Russia, Ukraine Complete Second Round of Prisoner Exchange

Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) react following a prisoner swap at an undisclosed location, Ukraine, 10 June 2025. (EPA)
Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) react following a prisoner swap at an undisclosed location, Ukraine, 10 June 2025. (EPA)
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Russia, Ukraine Complete Second Round of Prisoner Exchange

Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) react following a prisoner swap at an undisclosed location, Ukraine, 10 June 2025. (EPA)
Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) react following a prisoner swap at an undisclosed location, Ukraine, 10 June 2025. (EPA)

Russia and Ukraine said Tuesday they had exchanged captured soldiers, the second stage of an agreement struck at peace talks last week for each side to free more than 1,000 prisoners.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Tuesday's exchange saw "the return of our injured and severely wounded warriors from Russian captivity."

Neither side said how many soldiers had been freed in the swap -- the second in as many days following another exchange on Monday.

The two sides had agreed in Istanbul last week to release all wounded soldiers and all under the age of 25.

Russia's defense ministry said: "In accordance with the Russian-Ukrainian agreements reached on June 2 in Istanbul, the second group of Russian servicemen was returned."

Zelensky said further exchanges would follow.

"The exchanges are to continue. We are doing everything we can to find and return every single person who is in captivity."

The agreement had appeared in jeopardy over the weekend, with both sides trading accusations of attempting to thwart the exchange.

Russia says Ukraine has still not agreed to collect the bodies of killed soldiers, after Moscow said more than 1,200 corpses were waiting in refrigerated trucks near the border.

Russia said it had agreed to hand over the remains of 6,000 killed Ukrainian soldiers, while Kyiv said it would be an "exchange".

Moscow and Kyiv have carried out dozens of prisoner exchanges since Russia invaded in 2022, triggering Europe's largest conflict since World War II.