Turkish opposition launches publicity campaign against alleged government corruption
Allegations of corruption by the opposition CHP party have sparked a publicity campaign demanding to know the whereabouts of $128 billion. This large sum of money was allegedly used during the tenure of former finance minister Berak Albayrak, the son-in-law of President Tayyip Erdogan. According to the CHP, millions of dollars of foreign reserves were used to stabilise the Turkish lira, although it has continued to plummet and lose value.
The opposition has started a campaign under the slogan "Where are the Central Bank's 128 billion dollars? The street protests have been suppressed by Turkish police forces, who have used water cannons and armed vehicles. They also removed the banners that citizens had hung on the balconies and billboards of the CHP.
The authorities' response has not deterred the opposition, which has continued its protest campaign on social media. Many CHP politicians have changed their profile pictures on their personal accounts to "128", in reference to the government's scandal. The CHP is demanding explanations from the government, insisting that the money belongs to all Turkish citizens. "We are asking for the money of the poor, the needy and the orphans," Kemal Kilicdaroglu, leader of the opposition party, wrote on Twitter. Erdogan has stated that the fight against the coronavirus has required large amounts of money.
"The lack of reserves shows the lack of financial transparency in the country," said CHP politician Kamil Oktay Sindir. Sindir considers it his obligation to control and analyse the country's budget and economic resources. "We derive this right from the constitution," he told Arab News. "Turks are paying huge taxes and deserve to hold the government accountable for every penny it spends," he added. He also underlined the lack of credibility of foreign investors in Turkey, "confidence in the functioning of the economy is eroding". The economic entity Goldman Sachs announced that the Turkish Central Bank had "wasted" more than 100 billion of its reserves in 2020 to stop the depreciation of the lira. "NASA's 2020 budget was 22.6 billion, we could have even gone to Mars," Turkish journalist Serif Turgut ironised on Twitter.
The background to this protest lies in the dismissal of Naci Agbal, former head of the Central Bank. Following this dismissal, the CHP called for a parliamentary enquiry into Agbal's dismissal amid rumours of profiteering and corruption. Ali Babacan, leader of the Democracy and Progress Party (DEVA), speculated about the former governor's dismissal. Babacan believes Agbal may have been fired because he planned to investigate the sale of $130 billion in foreign exchange reserves when Berat Albayrak was finance minister.
However, this scandal is not the only one the Turkish government has to deal with. Last March a video surfaced of AKP (Erdogan's party) politician Kursat Ayvatoglu snorting cocaine in a luxury car. AKP members claimed that it was icing sugar and not cocaine, which opponents considered "ridiculous". But Ayvatoglu himself later admitted that he was a cocaine user and drug dealer. Photos were also published of the politician in luxurious places and consuming alcohol, something that goes against the AKP's Islamist values.