Turkish Interior Minister Soylu 'blames Defense Minister Akar for failed rescue op in Iraq'

Nergis Demirkaya / DUVAR

Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu is reportedly blaming Defense Minister Hulusi Akar for the failed rescue operation in Iraq's Gara that led to the deaths of 13 captives on Feb. 14. 

Soylu thinks that his ministry could have saved the 13 Turks, including soldiers, police and intelligence officers, held by the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) if the operation was conducted by them, a high-level official from the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) told Duvar. 

According to the official, the relationship between the two ministers is tense at the moment. 

"It's attention-grabbing that the two ministers were given the duty to inform parliament together. It looks like the government thinks that Akar couldn't have handled it on his own and Soylu was needed in a political sense," the official said. 

Both Soylu and Akar on Feb. 16 gave speeches in parliament to inform the public on the operation to save the captives held by the PKK and to respond to increasing criticism from the opposition.

The opposition has been slamming the government for not taking sufficient initiatives to secure the captives' release despite numerous efforts by the CHP and the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) on the issue. According to the opposition, plenty of parliamentary questions were submitted and families of those killed tried for more than five years to unite with their sons. 

Soylu claims an HDP deputy recently visited Gara 

Separately, Soylu on Feb. 16 claimed that a female HDP deputy recently visited Gara, but refrained from naming her. 

"An HDP deputy went to Gara and showed herself there. We can tell you her name if you ask," Soylu said in parliament, but refused to give any names upon journalists' questions.