PM Erdoğan’s remarks over sex tape are ‘not sufficient,' former CHP leader says

ISTANBUL

The former leader of the CHP, Deniz Baykal, says Erdoğan’s remarks about a sex tape are ‘not sufficient.’

The former leader of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), Deniz Baykal, said the prime minister's remarks about a sex tape that leaked in 2010 and led to his resignation were “not sufficient.”

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said he ordered the removal of the sex tape immediately, but Baykal claimed that the removal of the tape was made only after his own court application. He said Erdoğan now had to make a concrete statement over the leak of tape.CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has said he has seen footage showing Erdoğan watching a 2010 sex tape that forced Baykal to resign.

“I watched it. Those who made Prime Minister Erdoğan watch the footage [secretly] filmed him, too. The latest audio recording consists of their conversations,” Kılıçdaroğlu told Kanaltürk TV station March 27. An audio recording released late on March 25 allegedly portrays Erdoğan speaking about the video of Baykal before it was uploaded onto YouTube. In the recording, the prime minister gives orders for the release of the video. The tape is said to have shown Baykal allegedly having an affair with a female politician.

Kılıçdaroğlu likened the situation to the Watergate scandal that occurred during the presidency of Richard Nixon in the United States, while Erdoğan had accused Kılıçdaroğlu of involvement in the leak.

“Erdoğan was filmed by the webcam of the computer that he used to watch the tape. I’ve never seen a man lying so scandalously. Mr. Baykal knows this and that’s why he’s now suing Erdoğan,” Kılıçdaroğlu added.