Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has challenged main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu to produce documents to back up Kilicdaroglu’s accusation that the government conducted a “controlled coup” on July 15, 2016.
Erdogan said the opposition leader should reveal the files, so that the government could act.
The CHP leader demanded that the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) officials reveal the political arm of the coup attempt, arguing that the government has a list containing the names of a number of politicians who are members of the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETO), which is believed to be behind the coup attempt, but is reluctant to reveal it.
“It is known that there are between 120 and 180 ByLock users among the AKP leadership. These ByLock users should be revealed,” Kilicdaroglu told the editors of television stations, referring to a smartphone messaging app. which is believed to be used almost exclusively by FETO members.
“Protecting criminals is a crime. If they are protected, on what grounds are they protected? All this should be revealed. If you hide this list [of ByLock users], it means you are not fighting FETO. If you hide them, this suggests that July 15 was a controlled coup attempt,” Kilicdaroglu added.
President Erdogan accused the opposition leader of lying.
“I have neither been the one who was deceived nor the one who deceived in my whole political career. We will never be either the deceived or the deceiver in the future. Be frank, be right, do not lie to this nation,” Erdogan said.
Hurriyet