ERDOĞAN SAYS CHP’S ECONOMIC, SECURITY SABOTAGE TO FACE JUSTICE

Wed 26 March 2025:

President Erdoğan on Wednesday accused the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) of inciting chaos to cover up allegations of corruption against its Istanbul mayor, Ekrem Imamoğlu. Addressing the parliamentary group meeting of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) in the capital Ankara on Wednesday, he said any attempt to undermine Türkiye’s economy and security should be held accountable before the courts.

Erdoğan underlined that it was members of the CHP themselves who presented evidence and testimonies in the corruption investigation, dismissing claims of political motives. The president also said ongoing investigations may reveal more wrongdoings involving the main opposition party, in a veiled reference to a probe into alleged vote buying in an intraparty election of the CHP.

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Police apprehended dozens since last week as CHP leader Özgür Özel called supporters to take to the streets to protest Imamoğlu’s detention and subsequent formal arrest on March 19 and March 23, respectively. Özel’s political rhetoric to disobey bans on gatherings fanned tensions and drew extremist groups to the CHP’s rallies across Türkiye. Eventually, rioters clashed with police, injuring more than 120 police officers.

Weighing mounting evidence, an Istanbul court ordered the arrest of Imamoğlu and the criminal network he led on charges of corruption, while he will also be tried on charges of aiding terrorism.

Erdoğan says they would never forget those “calling for international intervention in our country whenever they feel troubled, those trying to pit people against each other over differences of faith, ethnicities and social status, and those trying to oust us through illegitimate means.” “Courts held those accountable who committed treason against the national will, and will do so in the future. The judiciary will hold those behind any sabotage against the Turkish economy and the well-being of the nation accountable. Those who ambushed the brotherhood of the nation will face justice,” he said.

The president said the election results in municipal elections were undesirable for the AK Party. “But you see what the cost of those losses have been. Municipalities reverted back to the 1990s,” he said, referring to the dilapidated state of municipal services before the AK Party came to power. “Millions of people do not have public services, and we see resources allocated to municipalities and taxes they benefited from were utilized for their own interests. It is obvious that the Istanbul metropolitan municipality and some district municipalities (run by the CHP) are fed on corruption and theft. The latest operation showed that corruption, first evidenced with illegal university degrees obtained by disrespecting the rights of millions of youth, engulfed the entire city,” he said. Erdoğan shunned openly naming Imamoğlu in his speech, but the Istanbul mayor was stripped of his university degree shortly before his arrest on corruption charges due to an illegal transfer from an unrecognized private Turkish Cypriot university to prestigious Istanbul University.

Erdoğan said corruption was multifaceted, from theft of hundreds of millions of Turkish liras to the handover of private data of Istanbulites to third parties. “As a matter of fact, in terms of corruption, CHP-run municipalities have more scandals than the plot of telenovelas,” he said.

The president had pointed out that there were “bigger things in store” before Imamoğlu’s arrest, as he referred to ongoing investigations into the wrongdoings of CHP municipalities. In Wednesday’s speech, he said there may be more things to come in investigations, likely referring to the ongoing probe into vote-buying allegations against CHP Chair Özgür Özel during his intraparty election in November 2023. “Amid corruption and accusations, the CHP resorted to cheap political tactics instead of shedding light on the accusations. They tried to cover up the scandal by inciting chaos. They are not angered at theft, they are angered at those capturing the thieves,” he said.

He also dismissed CHP’s claim that investigations were politically motivated. “They are trying to blame us and distort the truth. Those who brought forward the evidence triggering the corruption and bribery investigations are members of the CHP themselves. When disputes arose over the division of illicit money, some went to the judiciary and revealed everything. Those who engaged in corruption, took bribes, obtained fake diplomas and robbed thousands of young people of their future are from the CHP.

Those who funneled money through criminal networks into their companies are from the CHP. The whistleblowers in the investigation, who are leaking information, are from the CHP. Those who claimed fraud at the party congress and filed lawsuits are from the CHP. Those who detailed the thefts on live television are from the CHP. Yet, they claim the AK Party is at fault. How could we possibly be part of it? Why are you attributing your own legal battles to us? In this latest episode (of corruption), the thieves turned on each other, accomplices ratted each other out, and they went to the authorities. Now we are witnessing the aftershocks. We merely expect the judiciary to do its job and those found guilty by the courts to be punished. As the president, I take every step to protect citizens’ rights, but we do not overstep our duties and responsibilities,” he said.

Erdoğan said the CHP’s corruption scheme has been exposed and they should now “stop trying to drag us into the pit you’ve dug for yourselves.”

“Some are trying to cover up their bribery ring by treating everyone as fools, but it’s futile,” Erdoğan said. He added: “Neither this nation nor the judiciary will allow such disgrace to be swept under the rug. If CHP members dismiss our words as politically motivated, let’s consider Deniz Baykal’s 2005 remarks. Surely they won’t object to him. What did Baykal say? He spoke of integrity in politics, of fearing what is forbidden, of ensuring no more scandals like ISKI would happen in the CHP. After all the scandals now exposed, do CHP leaders feel no shame ignoring Baykal’s words? Are they not embarrassed to relive the same scenes 20 years later?”

The late Baykal was a popular chairperson of the CHP before a sex tape scandal forced him to step down. The ISKI scandal Erdoğan mentioned rocked the SHP, a predecessor of the present-day CHP, when an investigation revealed that the director of the eponymous water utility of SHP-run Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IBB) illegally awarded contracts to shell companies he founded, siphoning off millions.

Erdoğan also criticized Özgür Özel, who spoke to CNN International, for “complaining about his own country to the world.” He had harsher words, however, for Özel in the case of vandalizing a mosque in Istanbul by rioters. Gravestones in the courtyard of the historic Şehzadebaşı mosque near the IBB headquarters were vandalized earlier this week. The culprits were rioters who were among the crowd attending a rally organized by the CHP. “Aren’t you afraid that your own grave may be desecrated the same way one day, Mr. Özel?” Erdoğan asked.

“These are priceless monuments, yet these immoral, shameless vandals tear them down. We will not tolerate this. We are working with the judiciary to identify and hold accountable those involved, including masked terrorists,” Erdoğan said, referring to mask-wearing rioters.

“The fact that the main opposition party has become a tool for marginal leftist groups and foul-mouthed thugs deeply troubles us. Their shielding of those who attack police with stones and axes insults the nation,” Erdoğan lamented. The latest riots had parallels with the notorious 2013 Gezi Park riots, where a seemingly peaceful environmental protest escalated into violence when groups affiliated with terrorist groups joined the protest and attacked police.

-Source: Daily Sabah

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