Turkish parliament speaker’s remarks on Che ‘advised youth to follow their own leaders’
The press office of the Turkish parliament has sought to calm some of the controversy over Parliamentary Speaker İsmail Kahraman’s contentious remarks on Ernesto “Che” Guevara, saying they were only intended as “advice to the Turkish youth to follow their own heroes and leaders.”
“In the speech delivered by Mr. Kahraman, it was recommended to our youngsters, who have internalized our own national values and who are the guarantee of our country’s bright future full of prosperity and peace, that thousands of heroes and leaders in our history could be taken example as role model and followed, not a personality who participated in Cuba’s socialist revolution,” the statement read on Aug. 30.
Kahraman drew angry reactions after he called the Argentine revolutionary a “killer” and a “bandit,” as he criticized the Turkish youth’s interest in him by wearing his image on shirts and badges.
