CHP leader Kılıçdaroğlu demands record of Erdoğan-Trump phone conversation

ANKARA

Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has demanded a recording of the phone conversation between U.S. President Donald Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, urging the U.S. to “take a clear stance against terror.”

“It would be best for them to publish the recording of the conversation so that all the truths are revealed,” Kılıçdaroğlu told reporters on Jan. 25.

His comments came after Trump and Erdoğan spoke on the phone on Jan. 24 amid the Turkish military’s ongoing “Operation Olive Branch” in Syria’s Afrin. Statements from U.S. and Turkish officials have differed over the content of the call.

Speaking to reporters, Kılıçdaroğlu said his CHP supports Turkish officials’ statements about the conversation, urging Washington to “present a firmer stance against terror, a clear and open stance against terror.”

Ankara has been criticizing the U.S. for supplying arms and weapons to the Democratic Union Party (PYD) and the People’s Protection Units (YPG) within the scope of the anti-Islamic State of the Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) coalition under the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

Kılıçdaroğlu said the CHP supports the government’s stance against the PYD and the YPG, regarding the Syrian Kurdish forces as an affiliate of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and a threat to Turkey’s security.

“We never want terrorist organizations to be nested on our borders. No state would want that,” Kılıçdaroğlu said, reiterating the CHP’s support to “Operation Olive Branch.”

“Our army has been waging a great struggle on this subject and there is great public support. It is us who have been most harmed by terror,” he added.

“Terror has caused great troubles in the region. It has caused troubles not only for Turkey but also for Syria, Iraq, France, the U.K. and even the U.S., claiming the lives of many people. Because of that there has to be a joint struggle against terror. Everybody should support Turkey’s struggle against terror,” Kılıçdaroğlu said.