CHP leader has iftar with religious figures in İstanbul

Among guests at the event were CHP Deputy Chairman Umut Oran, CHP İstanbul provincial chairman Oğuz Kaan Salıcı, Bakırköy Mayor Ateş Ünal Erzen, former head of the Religious Affairs Directorate Süleyman Ateş, İstanbul Mufti Rahmi Yaran, former İstanbul Mufti Mustafa Çağrıcı, leader of Turkey's Jafari community Selahattin Özgündüz, Professor Zekeriya Beyaz, a former dean of Marmara University's theology department, and columnists Hüseyin Gülerce, Ali Bulaç, Ahmet Hakan and Fehmi Koru.

The fast-breaking dinner was closed to the press, but reporters were allowed to take photographs before the event began. Men with long beards, wearing turbans and gowns -- garments peculiar to religious men –featured in the pictures. The photos gained wide media coverage, as it is unusual for CHP officials to participate in events also attended by religious figures. The main opposition party, which considers itself the “guardian of the secular order” in Turkey, has traditionally been distanced from Islam and pious people.

Addressing guests at the fast-breaking dinner, Kılıçdaroğlu acknowledged that his party has had a “problematic relationship” with Turkey's religious community. “We will close the distance between us and pious people. We are questioning why there is such a distance. We are aware of our mistakes, and we will make up for them. We will increase dialogue with those [pious] people,” he said.

After the fast-breaking dinner, Kılıçdaroğlu left İstanbul for Ankara.