CHP Principal Advisor on Foreign Affairs Ünal Çeviköz on CNN International

CHP Principal Advisor on Foreign Affairs Ünal Çeviköz participated in the "Connect the World With Becky Anderson" program on CNN International.

Here are the transcripts from the program.

>> Here with a second hour of connect the world. Over three weeks ago, one of the worst earthquakes in a century caused twinges astors across Turkey and Syria. The worst humanitarian crises in the region's modern history. In Turkey, it's already become unclear just how bad the damages. An estimated 34.2 billion dollars according to the world bank, that figure could go up as aftershocks continue to add to that damage. Now, the focus has shifted to the government's handling of relief efforts ahead of what is shaping up to be the most crucial elections for president erdogan. Tonight, we ask, what is next for a Turkey? Let's bring in -- eight member of the Turkish parliament and a key adviser to the main Turkish opposition party, the Republican peoples party. Joining us tonight from Washington, D.C.. So, thank you for joining us. What do you make of the government's handling of the earthquake to date?

>> I think for the first 48 hours in two provinces in Hatay and -- the state apparatus and development representatives failed to be president. In -- I think it has taken 72 hours for the response of the government to be observed. That, of course, has created a very great anger in the population. Many people felt that there could be several lives saved if the government responded earlier. Of course, that is the main lack of coordination that the government officers and institutions had among themselves. That is still a very important element, just -- after three weeks. And the people are of course growing, showing their anger and protest.

>> Yeah, people getting extremely frustrated. Let's be quite clear, the president erdogan's team to concede that mistakes were made. At least in the first 24 hours. Also, after that, said he got out and assess the damage. It is the extent of the damage that was so devastating. And the last couple of weeks, hundreds of people have been arrested over shoddy building practices that may have resulted in a high death toll. Your party leader has been extremely vocal in blaming corruption for the scale of the disaster. Pointing his finger squarely at the government. It is he political point scoring here or is this a real factor.

>> >> There's no political point scoring their. I think the chairman of the party, he has -- and he has been present in the first day. I mean, around noon time on the 6th of February, he was there. And several members of our party, parliamentarians, 100 of them have been dispersed all around the provinces, all the provinces affected by the earthquake. Have observed what has happened. They also observed the link of response and coordination of the government authorities. That's the reason why they are simply directing their criticism to all these events which they've observed personally. Today, in a group meeting, -- has made several offers to the government. Several measures should have been taken. Of course, prior to the earthquake, because we had an experience in 1999. That, of course, showed that Turkey is on the faultline and Turkey is a country which will be always living earthquakes. That's the reason why the government is being criticized, they have not taken the necessary measures to respond when the disaster happened.

>> Let's talk about that, I interviewed Turkish presidential spokesperson last week, he conceded that mistakes have been made. He said it's the government's responsibility to get things right. He also said, and I quote him here, a number of strict measures have been taken over the last decade to address some of these issues. Some of these criticisms about building practices. I just want to viewers, and you, sir, to have a listen to part of what he told me.

>> I don't want to, you know, deflected responsibility here in any way, we have to take action, it's also a matter of a culture of understanding, and everybody, you know, following these guidelines and regulations, individuals, constructors, private sector municipalities, central government, everybody, we're all learning really great lessons, great lessons from --

>> And there are municipalities run by the opposition where there are accusations that not enough measures were taken to ensure that buildings were able to withstand earthquakes. So, I guess the question of this point, do you believe or accept that blame must be shared across party lines at this point?

>> I think the first responsibility is, of course, the contractors, the architects, the engineers, and all those people that have been involved in the construction business. If they have not followed the requirements, which have been introduced after the earthquake regulation, which have to be followed, they should of course be irresponsible. That's the first thing I have to mention, secondly, I think there's been a lack of control mechanism apparently in the construction sector. When we observe the debris and the rubble. It's quite obvious the standards have not been pursued. If the standards are not pursued, of course, there is a reconstruction, and reconstruction is a big failure, particularly in an area where the region is on a fault line. That's happened in many places like Adıyaman, Adana, and -- was probably the worst hit. And it was the area where the government said they could not reach for the first 72 hours, unfortunately.

>> Hundreds of thousands of Turkish citizens voters have been displaced. There are very important elections scheduled for may the 14th. Will those elections go ahead on that day?

>> Yes.

>> Do you believe? And if so, how will these displacements of so many voters affect the voting for those elections. I want to get your perspective here.

>> Yes, the elections are going to take place on the 18th of June, normally this is a scheduled time. President erdogan has made his preference about the 14th of may. And I understand a team of experts from the high election board are visiting the region, earthquake region. And they're also making their own observations. Their duty is actually to prepare to manage and conduct the election process. Once the day of our elections as clarified, officially. Whether it's the 14th of may or the 18th of June, the duty of the election board is to carry on and conduct the elections according to --

>> Okay --

>> So, it's --

>> Let me ask you this at this point.

>> Yes?

>> Does the opposition have what it takes to be incumbent president -- Erdogan at this point? Whenever that election gets held?

>> Yes, we are quite confident. And I think on the 2nd of March, which is about two days from now. The table of six, the leaders of the six opposition parties are going to get together and in their meeting they're probably going to discuss the final preparations for the nomination of the presidential candidate. And when this is decided, I think we'll be waiting for the election date to be announced, and when the election date is announced, they will also announce the nomination of the presidential candidate. We are quite confident --

>> Let me ask you, who is your preferred candidate?

>> My preferred candidate, is Mr. Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, Chairman of our party.

>> Thank you Sir, good to have you.