Salos in Turkey: Video shows opposition executives with cash ‘bulbs’

Spongeous reactions have provoked the video that came out today Monday (18.03.2024) with opposition officials counting cash, less than two weeks of municipal in the country. In the video posted on social media, three officials of the opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), just before the municipal elections in Turkey, count “bully” cash, which according to complaints amount to £15 million (approximately €427,125), the party’s local organization in Istanbul. Istanbul is at the heart of the election conflict, as the recovery of the municipality of Turkey’s largest metropolis is for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan a personal bet and seal of his successes in last year’s presidential election. CHP’DE PARA SAYMA SKANDALI CHP’li yöneticilerin güvenlik kamerası görüntülerine takıldığı para Sayma görüntüleri. Cumhuriyet Başsavcılığının başlattığı soruşturma ise sürüyor. Ekrem İmamoğlu’nun danışmanı Fatih Keleş ifadesinde, parayı CHP’li Turan Taşkın Özer’den aldığını… — 24 TV (@yirmidortv) The current mayor of Constantinople, Erem Imamoglu, is now considered to be his most powerful political opponent who has highlighted the Kemal opposition camp in the last 20 years. It is common appreciation that Constantinople of 18 million inhabitants, with a population greater than 131 countries in the world, is the key to power in the country. The CHP denied the allegations, saying that the money was the advance for the purchase of the local organization’s new building in Istanbul in 2019 and that the material comes from a lawyer’s office camera representing the owner of the property. The party accused the lawyer of leaking the material and insisted that this lawyer tried to blackmail the party, although the visual material had nothing to do with “criminal action”. Imamoglu himself denied claims that money was used for any malicious purpose and stated that the video came to the surface as an attempt by his opponents seeking to “overturn him before the election”. Statement by Erdogan Erdoğan on the side, passing on the attack, argues that “the game became even dirtier with cash pads”, stressing that “no one can get rid of this dirty game with lies.” He also said that “our people will make them accountable for their plans on 31 March”. Referring to the same issue, Justice Minister Yilmaz Toods said prosecutors would definitely locate the source of money, while for CHP’s claim that cash was collected through a donation campaign for the party’s new offices in Istanbul, he said such donations should be made in accordance with the regulation requiring parties to raise money only through bank remittances. Today the alleged seller of the CHP building, Ali Riza Braka, testified to the Istanbul prosecution in his capacity as a suspect, while in the previous days two local organization officials and a close associate of Imamoglu had testified.