Turkish opposition leader condemns 'dictator' Erdogan

Turkey's prime minister is behaving like an "elected dictator" and inciting a constitutional crisis in a bid for greater personal power, the leader of the country's main opposition party has warned.

Kemal Kilicdaroglu, chairman of the social democratic Republican People's party (CHP), said Recep Tayyip Erdogan, premier since 2003, was determined to change the Turkish constitution to create an executive presidency, to which post he would switch after elections due next year.

"Turkey needs a new constitution to protect individual rights," Kilicdaroglu said. The 1982 charter imposed after a military coup was out of date and at odds with Turkey's EU ambitions, he said, but Erdogan's plans ignored the need for a separation of powers, for instance by empowering the president to appoint judges.

Emma Reynolds MP, the shadow Europe minister, suggested opposition in some western European countries to Turkey's EU membership bid had set back the cause of reform and encouraged a return to authoritarianism in Turkey. She expressed Labour's support for its Turkish "sister party".

Kilicdaroglu told the meeting that many writers and columnists critical of Erdogan's rule had been "disenfranchised" – removed from their jobs – and that those still working were obliged to observe forms of self-censorship. He noted that more journalists were in jail in Turkey than in any other country.

"When the press is not free, the people are not free," he said. "Whether this is a healthy environment in which to frame a new constitution is a matter I leave to you to decide."