Erdoğan’s personal driver enters Parliament after Nov. 1
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's personal driver, who has served him for over 20 years, was elected as a deputy in the Nov. 1 parliamentary election, the Radikal daily has reported.
Ahmet Hamdi Çamlı, who was reportedly the “voluntary driver” of Erdoğan, has entered Parliament as an İstanbul deputy of Erdoğan's former Justice and Development Party (AK Party), Radikal reported on Tuesday, according to Today’s Zaman.
Çamlı failed to be elected as a deputy in June 7 parliamentary election as he stood at 16th place on the AK Party's list of candidates for İstanbul's second electoral region. Çamlı was put in 13th place for the Nov. 1 election, in which the AK Party has surprisingly won 49 percent of the vote, according to the unofficial results announced.
Çamlı first began serving Erdoğan when the current president ran for the mayoral election in the İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality in 1994. Before working for Erdoğan, Çamlı was the personal driver of former Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan, who is considered to be the political “teacher” of Erdoğan. Erbakan is also known for his heavy criticism of Erdoğan for drifting away from the principles of his teachings.