Main opposition CHP to launch ‘alternative’ coup report, says chair

Rifat Başaran – ANKARA

AFP photo

Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) head Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has asked his party to prepare a report investigating Turkey’s failed July 15, 2016 coup attempt, as an “alternative” to the parliamentary committee’s draft report released on May 26. 

“The members of the coup commission [from the CHP] should run a very meticulous work. They should find out all the relations and points left in contradiction and in darkness regarding the July 15 coup attempt. Let’s try to ensure that the public is informed regarding this matter, leaving no stone left unturned,” Kılıçdaroğlu said during a CHP central executive meeting in Ankara on May 31. 
 
The parliamentary coup commission report was published after work was started on it on Oct. 4, 2016. Over three months active the commission held a total of 22 meetings and listened to 51 people. 

However, opposition voices have blasted the commission as unreliable, with CHP chair Kılıçdaroğlu saying its report “deliberately tried to conceal the reality of the coup attempt.” 

“The report we will prepare should be an alternative with dissenting opinions. Our deputy friends are the injured parties of the coup attempt, so let them be involved in the cases, especially regarding the bombing of parliament. Let our friends follow all the trials on July 15. Don’t let the blood of the 249 people [killed in the coup attempt] be left on the floor,” he added.  

On May 31, CHP spokesperson Bülent Tezcan reiterated the party’s stance regarding the committee’s coup report. Speaking at a press conference organized following the party’s central executive board meeting, Tezcan said the CHP sees the report as an attempt to “cover up the political leg of the coup.”