Erdogan ‘Morsi of Turkey,’ will not last past 2016: Turkish opposition head

“Erdogan is the Morsi of our country, he’s our Brotherhood representative, and therefore he took a negative stance towards Sisi. And he will go down like Morsi.”

Dogu Perincek, the Chairman of the Turkish Workers Party, has been a vocal opponent of Turkish President Erdogan since his election in 2002. Perincek he was sentenced to life in prison in August 2013 after he was found guilty of “plotting against the Turkish government.” He was released, however, in March 2014.

“Egypt is our strategic ally and friend. And we are stuck, destined to be allied with Egypt, we need it. The history of both countries is very similar,” said Perincek.

Relations between Turkey and Egypt have significantly chilled since the ouster of Mohamed Morsi in July 2013; Ergogan has frequently referred to the ouster as a “coup,” and Egypt has accused him of interfering in internal affairs.

“We are the only political party in Turkey that called June 30 a revolution,” Perincek told The Cairo Post, adding  “In his heart, Erdogan is afraid that he might face the same end as Morsi did, therefore he rejected fiercely the June 30 revolution and the fall of Morsi.”

Perincek said he saw a “new climate” emerging in the Middle East: “Relatively secular, relatively free, and more tolerant. “

“These countries are condemned to tolerance, and destined to secularism. If there’s no secularism, we can’t maintain our national unity. In that sense, Turkey and Egypt need to cooperate in the area of secularity and in the area of independence with each other,” he said.

Perincek predicted that Erdogan would not continue his tenure past 2016 in Turkey, citing reasons of high foreign debt, as well as his isolation from other countries.

“The individual, somewhat fanatic positions of Erdogan, which are not well-thought out, are bound to be erased….Fueling the economy all the time by taking on foreign debt has come to an end. Turkey is facing $250 billion of debt to be paid in this year.”

“Erdogan has no chance to borrow that much to pay the debt, and he won’t be able to keep the wheel turning. That means that the economy of Erdogan will collapse,” he added.