Turkish main opposition leader reveals new wiretapped phone call on media

ANKARA

Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu addresses his party group at Parliament Feb 18. AA photo

Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has revealed a new wiretapped conversation showing further evidence of pressure on the media by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Addressing his party group at Parliament yesterday, the CHP leader released a wiretapped phone conversation between Erdoğan and Fatih Saraç, the executive of the Ciner Media Group that owns daily HaberTürk and HaberTürk TV, which was recently leaked onto the Internet. 

In the recorded conversation, Erdoğan is complaining about reports about Mustafa Sarıgül, Istanbul candidate of CHP, covered on the main page of daily HaberTürk. In response, Saraç defends himself by saying they had brought Gürsel Tekin’s, fellow CHP member and known rival to Sarıgül, local election bid to the front page in news reports.

“Tekin will go to Istanbul and raise Sarıgül’s hand,” Kılıçdaroğlu said referring to the wiretappings.
“We have freedom; everybody can say anything within party discipline,” he added.

Elaborating on allegations regarding the physical attack on a woman who claimed she and her baby were attacked while walking by the Kabataş docks in Istanbul, Kılıçdaroğlu congratulated Turkish people for not being agitated.

The CHP leader suggested the prime minister wanted to provoke people by saying a headscarf-wearing woman was insulted by Gezi Park protestors. 

Şenol Kazancı, one of Erdoğan’s aides, visited the police station just after the alleged Kabataş incident in order to see the camera footage and put pressure on the police, Kılıçdaroğlu said.

Stressing he was respectful to veiled women, Kılıçdaroğlu accused Erdoğan of using the headscarf for politics. “Headscarves cannot cover up your corruption,” Kılıçdaroğlu said to Erdoğan.