President Erdoğan criticizes opposition over stance on terrorism

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Friday criticized the opposition parties for failing to address the fight against terrorism.

Addressing an election rally in Istanbul after Friday prayers, Erdoğan said that so far the opposition, especially main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) and its presidential candidate Muharrem İnce had not included the fight against terrorism in their campaigns.

"Did you ever hear them talking about the fight against terrorism, especially İnce? There is no fight against terrorism in their books, but in ours," he said.

Erdoğan also said that the opposition "does not care" about major issues regarding Turkey such as economy, health, education, tourism and transportation.

Pledging his fight against terrorism, Erdoğan also reminded the ongoing operation in Qandil.

In its fight against terrorism, Turkey has launched operations in both Qandil and Sinjar regions in northern Iraq, Erdoğan said on Monday.

Reminding that there are only eight days left to the elections, Erdoğan said that the day of election will be a "festival of democracy".

Last April, the parliament passed a bill for early elections on June 24, cementing Turkey's move to a presidential system.

In the April 2017 referendum, Turkish voters had approved the switch from a parliamentary system to a presidential one.

Six candidates are running for president, while eight political parties are taking part in the parliamentary elections.

Erdoğan has served as president since 2014 -- Turkey's first popularly elected president. Before that, he served as prime minister, from 2003 to 2014.