Opposition slams ruling party

Speaking at a rally in Hatay ahead of March 29 elections, main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal criticized the campaign rhetoric of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Criticizing the government over the case against the Lighthouse Foundation, a German-based charity run by Turks, Baykal claimed that the group was protected by the government. Campaigning in Istanbul, opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahceli charged that Erdogan was using state resources for political purposes, to pay for his traveling to rallies. Saying that MHP had supported Erdogan's walkout protest in Davos this January from a panel on Gaza, Bahceli added that he should stop using the incident for political gain.