Turkish main opposition targets Erdoğan over German money claims

Turkey’s main opposition party has submitted a censure motion against Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan over his allegations that opposition-held municipalities funneled money to Kurdish militants by way of loan agreements with German foundations.

“Erdoğan must clarify which CHP-held municipalities received money from German foundations illegally and funneled this money to the PKK [outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party] terrorist organization,” the Republican People’s Party (CHP) said in the motion submitted to Parliament yesterday.

“The Prime Ministry is the authority that supervises whether all transactions are carried out legally and is responsible for preventing all kind of embezzlement and unlawfulness. This office should not be a place for lies and slander,” the CHP said.

Speaking before his departure to Germany yesterday, Erdoğan said he would discuss the issue of loan agreements that German foundations and development agencies have made with municipalities held by the CHP and the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) with Chancellor Angela Merkel.

He played down the CHP’s censure motion and said the German foundations “should be careful with a lawyer such as the CHP chairman because he is not a good one.”

Last month, Erdoğan claimed that CHP and BDP municipalities had funneled money to the PKK through loan agreements with German foundations. The CHP had warned it would submit a censure motion against Erdoğan unless he substantiated his accusations.

In a related development yesterday, CHP chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu attacked the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) over fraudulent construction in the quake-hit town of Erciş and said its former mayor Fatih Çiftçi was now an AKP deputy.

Kılıçdaroğlu disclosed a document which he described as a petition by 14 construction firms to the Erciş prosecutor complaining that the mayor was approving construction plans that did not comply with legal standards.