CHP head again accuses Turkish gov’t of sending arms to jihadists

ANKARA

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Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) head Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has repeated accusations that the Turkish government has sent arms to jihadist groups in Syria. 

“Turkey should not lend armed support to jihadist groups in Syria such as [the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant] ISIL,” Kılıçdaroğlu said during his Feb. 16 address to the CHP’s parliamentary group.

They built a training camp in Turkey. Tombs and mosques have been bombed. They said, ‘Blood can pour in Syria but [Syrian President Bashar al] Assad should go.’ But their real problem is not al-Assad,” he added. 

“You are disgracing Turkey,” Kılıçdaroğlu added, stating that it was well-known that many jihadist groups have leaked into Syria via Turkey. 

He also responded to fresh criticism from the prime minister earlier in the day, when Ahmet Davutoğlu called for the CHP to be a “national opposition.”

Kılıçdaroğlu said the government’s foreign policy was “not national,” claiming that the AKP “wants to bring Wahhabism to 21st-century Turkey.” 

The CHP leader also said al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Nusra militants beheaded a Turkish soldier in Turkey’s Yayladağı district, referring to a recent incident.

“Who will pay the account for this? Not the government? Even mere tribal heads are now challenging Turkey,” he added.