Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu has strongly criticized the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government over recent allegations of corruption and bribery, stating that even greater corruption claims will emerge in the upcoming days, Today's Zaman reported.
Speaking during an event in Bursa on Thursday, Kilicdaroglu talked about a major corruption investigation in which the sons of three ministers, many bureaucrats and renowned businessmen were detained on charges of engaging in corruption and bribery on Dec. 17, 2013. He stated: "We had already said six months ago that the country's administration was not healthy, our country's democracy was under threat, the principle of separation of powers was being violated and that there was an authoritarian administration in Turkey.
Stating that he has never seen politics as a tool for enrichment, Kilicdaroglu said he engages in politics for the public.
Criticizing the words of Erdogan, who says his government was framed with the corruption investigation, Kilicdaroglu stated: "He says they were framed. What is clean money doing in shoeboxes? Did gangs put a money-counting machine in the bedroom of a minister's son [former Interior Minister Muammer Guler's son Barish Guler, who was also among those detained as part of the corruption investigation]? Did the gang give a TL 700,000 watch to a minister [former Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan]?"
The police found $4.5 million concealed in shoeboxes in the house of the general director of state-run Halkbank, Suleyman Arslan, and found a money-counting machine in the interior minister's house along with hundreds of thousands of dollars during raids as part of the corruption probe on Dec. 17.