Turkey became country of disappearances under grand illusionist Erdoğan, Akşener says

Duvar English

Turkey has turned into a country of disappearances under President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Good (İYİ) Party leader Meral Akşener said on April 21, and called the president a "grand illusionist."

"The country has turned into a land of disappearances under the skilled hands of grand illusionist Mister Erdoğan," Akşener said. 

The İYİ Party leader noted that a supply of COVID-19 vaccines that were supposed to be delivered to Turkey is missing, as well as "municipal employees sent abroad with gray passports," referring to the migration of citizens to Europe under the guise of municipal business. 

Akşener also noted the $128 billion that went missing from the Turkish Central Bank's foreign currency reserves under the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), about which the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) has been conducting an awareness campaign. 

"$128 billion are missing, justice is missing for those who seek it, democracy is missing for those who are worried about the country, law and justice are missing for our people," she said. 

Akşener also noted that the whereabouts of the president's son-in-law and former Finance Minister Berat Albayrak has been unknown since his abrupt Instagram resignation on Nov. 9, 2020. 

"Of course, the master of PowerPoint presentations who lost the $128 billion, Minister Son-in-law is missing," Akşener said, referring to a presentation of Albayrak that was ridiculed in 2018.

The İYİ Party leader said that the government was spinning fairy tales to avert questions about the missing $128 billion but that in reality, the fruit of people's labor had been "pocketed."