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CHP leader backs PM to sue US over WikiLeaks claims
“We are waiting for the prime minister to file a lawsuit for damages against the US and to take these claims to the international arena. We would then support the prime minister and say, ‘How dare you make such claims about our prime minister?’ We are waiting whether the prime minister will do that. We are demanding a statement that will satisfy the public,” Kılıçdaroğlu said yesterday in Bursa during a television program broadcast by three local channels simultaneously.
The CHP leader was in particular referring to claims that Erdoğan owns eight secret Swiss bank accounts. In 2004 cables, former US Ambassador to Turkey Eric Edelman describes Erdoğan as a politician with “unbridled ambition stemming from the belief God has anointed him to lead Turkey.”
Writing about alleged corruption in the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), Edelman says, “We have heard from two contacts that Erdogan has eight accounts in Swiss banks.” Erdoğan on Wednesday criticized the opposition for demanding that he explain the allegations that he has Swiss bank accounts and denied that he had any such accounts. “I don’t have a single cent in Switzerland. If you can prove that I do, I won’t stay at my position or remain a deputy. But will you continue to occupy your seats?” he asked, addressing his accusers.
Erdoğan’s remarks were not satisfactory for Kılıçdaroğlu, who said the prime minister should take legal action against the claims to prove his arguments. Stating that every claim in the cables cannot be accepted as true, Kılıçdaroğlu said, however, that the prime minister has so far failed to prove that these claims are not true. “When these claim emerged, we said these are very serious allegations since the person who made these claims is not an ordinary person. He is the ambassador of a country to Turkey.
We simply demanded a satisfactory statement from the prime minister. We did not accuse anybody, in fact,” Kılıçdaroğlu noted.
Noting that the prime minister is targeting the opposition instead of getting angry with the US, he said the prime minister should accept that if an ambassador says the prime minister of the country he is assigned to has “eight accounts in a Swiss bank,” this is big news anywhere in the world.
“The prime minister must say whether this is true or not, and he said it is not. Now, my suggestion to the prime minister is something very easy. If I or some others in this country had made such claims, the prime minister would have filed a lawsuit for damages immediately and demanded compensation. Now, he has to do that against the US,” he explained.
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