By Huseyin Hayatsever and Birsen Altayli
ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey's main opposition leader, boosted by sweeping local election gains in March, said he is "far off" opening talks with Tayyip Erdogan's ruling party over a new constitution since the president doesn't abide by the existing one.
In an interview with Reuters, Ozgur Ozel, who was elected chairman of the Republican People's Party (CHP) last November, also called on the government to once again raise the minimum wage, which continues to lag the soaring inflation rate.
The question of whether and how to rewrite Turkey's constitution could dominate domestic politics this year after Erdogan and his AK Party (AKP) said it is a priority. Analysts say a new document could potentially extend Erdogan's rule beyond 2028 when his current term ends.
"It would be a waste of time to discuss a new constitution while there has been so much violation of the constitution by the ruling party..." Ozel, 49, said at the CHP headquarters in Ankara this week.
"If the ruling party abides by the current constitution, we would get closer to discussing a new one. We are far-off from that point at the moment," he said.
Ozel's comments come after his secularist-centrist CHP won most major cities and made big gains in the AKP's rural heartland in the March 31 local elections, surpassing the conservative ruling party's share of the popular vote for the first time in more than two decades.
In response, Erdogan vowed to correct mistakes and called for a "softer" politics. Ozel held talks with the president this month, Erdogan's first with a CHP leader in nearly eight years.
'POLITICAL DETAINEES'
Ozel said he had wanted to meet Erdogan after the local elections to help end political polarisation.
"If Turkey is going to normalise, it needs to solve the issue of political detainees within its own domestic law," Ozel said, referring to cases such as the incarceration of philanthropist Osman Kavala.
In a ruling that critics and rights advocates say shows how Turkish courts silence political dissent, Kavala and seven others were convicted of trying to overthrow Erdogan's government by organising the 2013 nationwide Gezi Park protests with seven others. Kavala denies the charges.
Ozel's election as CHP leader ended a 13-year term under Kemal Kilicdaroglu, who lost to Erdogan in the 2023 presidential vote. In the March elections, Ozel's CHP broke through its historic ceiling of 25% support nationwide.
Asked about government efforts to tame inflation, Ozel said savings from the government's new cost-cutting plan would be "cosmetic" and "inefficient".
"This plan aims to save 100 billion lira ($3.1 billion), but the central bank's loss last year alone amounts to 800 billion lira," Ozel said.
Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz told Reuters in an interview this week that savings would be far more than 100 billion lira.
Turkish inflation hit 70% last month - the highest in emerging markets except Argentina - and is expected to peak in May around 75%. It is then seen dropping towards 40% by year-end.
Ozel criticised the government's pledge to keep the minimum wage stable a insufficient, given high inflation. "It should be raised," he said.
Asked about Turkey's decision this month to halt trade with Israel over its bombardment of Gaza, Ozel said the government had acted too slowly.
"I'm always for good relations between Israel and Turkey, but Israel's friends should take a strong stance against its massacres in Gaza."
($1 = 32.2743 liras)
(Reporting by Birsen Altayli and Huseyin Hayatsever; Additional reporting by Nevzat Devranoglu and Jonathan Spicer; Editing by Gareth Jones)
