Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in his first statement on the arrest of Mayor of Constantinople, Ekrem Imamoglou, said the opposition is trying to cover its internal mistakes with “bigger mistakes”.

In particular, the Turkish president said that the main opposition party is trying to cover its own mistakes and deceive the world with “theatrical performances”.

“We do not have the time to waste in unnecessary discussions or piles of money to fly recklessly,” Erdogan said in a speech in Ankara, the day after the arrest of Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, his main political opponent.

The problems of the Republican People’s Party “are not the problems of the country, but the problems of a handful of interests in their headquarters,” he said. “We do not have time to waste in the theatrical performances of the opposition.”

“The opposition is trying to present its inner quarrels or disputes by law as problems of the country. Their ambition has almost captured the mind. The opposition, its media and the Republican People’s Party (CHP) cannot respond to the accusations of justice on diploma and corruption. Instead of responding, they resort to the easy solution to deceive the people, “Erdogan said.

“If they said that the diploma was valid and in accordance with the process, and if they said there was no injustice or corruption in the city, they could discuss it with experts on the subject. But they don’t, they can’t do it. Because they know better than everyone that these are true, “he said.