Erdoğan sues CHP leader over Gara killing remarks

ANKARA

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has sued main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, demanding 500,000 Turkish Liras in compensation after the latter blamed the president for the responsibility of the illegal PKK group’s killing of 13 Turkish citizens in northern Iraq’s Gara region.

In his petition, Erdoğan’s lawyer Hüseyin Aydın said the statement of Kılıçdaroığlu was intended to “justify” the PKK’s act.

“The statement of the defendant that read ‘The president is responsible for the 13 martyrs in Gara,’ is an effort to exonerate the PKK terrorist organization, the perpetrator of the murders, and at the same time, attribute the responsibility for the crimes committed by the terrorist organization to our esteemed president, and damage the honor and dignity of our president,” the petition said.

In his parliamentary group addressing on Feb. 16, Kılıçdaroğlu said: “Recep Tayyip Erdogan is responsible for our 13 martyrs.”

In his response on Feb. 17, Erdoğan said, “How do you say, ‘The President is responsible for these?’ You are so irreverent, a shameless man.”

Meanwhile, Kılıçdaroğlu’s lawyer Celal Çelik on Feb. 17 stated that the CHP leader would file a five-kuruş compensation case against Erdoğan for his remarks towards the main opposition leader.

In a video message posted on his Twitter account on Feb. 17, Kılıçdaroğlu said, “He is insulting because he lost control. But I will continue to defend the rights of our 13 martyrs.”

Meanwhile, Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli also criticized the CHP leader for holding Erdoğan responsible for the Gara massacre.

The CHP, Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), Good (İYİ) Party “and other marginal parties have taken a position against Turkey and joined the PKK ranks,” Bahçeli tweeted.

“I want it to be known especially and strongly that if a responsible person is sought for Gara as a partner of the People’s Alliance, we are here, and we are willingly ready to undertake this responsibility. The Turkish state did not make a mistake in Gara and made them [the PKK] pay for treason,” he stated.