From the Archives | 16 May 2013, Shortly Before the Gezi Park Protests: The Kılıçdaroğlu–Swoboda Crisis, Briefly

Former CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, during his remarks in Brussels, stated that he saw then–Prime Minister Erdoğan and (now-toppled) Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad as similar in terms of democracy. Citing the Uludere (Roboski) airstrike, the 2011 incident in which 34 civilians were killed in a military operation, he described Erdoğan as a “dictator.” Following these comments, Kılıçdaroğlu announced that he had canceled a planned meeting with Hannes Swoboda, the head of the European Parliament’s Socialists and Democrats Group (S&D), saying, “I do not meet with someone who restricts freedom of expression.”

The S&D, however, stated that the meeting was canceled by Swoboda after Kılıçdaroğlu refused to retract his remarks. Swoboda strongly objected to the comparison between Erdoğan and al-Assad, arguing that it was “unacceptable,” particularly because Assad was waging war and terror against his own people. S&D officials said they had asked the CHP to withdraw the statement. As both sides offered conflicting explanations, each blamed the other for the cancellation of the meeting.