CHP leader urges Erdoğan to break silence on bribe allegations concerning AKP municipality

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Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has urged President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to comment on the allegations of bribe in a municipality run by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

"Who took the bribe worth 500,000 Turkish Liras? Why are you all silent?" Kılıçdaroğlu asked about the claims concerning the municipality in the Serik district of the southern province of Antalya.

Serik Mayor Enver Aputkan on May 5 claimed that a brawl over a bribe worth 500,000 liras erupted after a meeting attended by Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Culture and Tourism Minister Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, Antalya Governor Münir Karaloğlu and deputies of the AKP and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP).

According to Aputkan, an individual from the previous administration took the said bribe, but no one was willing to look into the incident.

Aputkan accused the ministers of remaining silent in the face of the allegations and asked Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu to send inspectors to the municipality.

'Honest individual'

Kılıçdaroğlu on May 20 urged Erdoğan to comment after no steps were taken on the issue despite two weeks have passed.

"The Serik mayor is from the AKP and an honest individual. A meeting was held and a bribe is mentioned. Who took this bribe? The mayor objects to this and they said, 'You didn't take it, the previous administration did.' So, we've been asking for a long time. Who took this?" he said.

Saying that everyone from the government comments when similar allegations are aimed at CHP municipalities, Kılıçadaroğlu noted that they will instead be angry at him for asking the question.