Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) Chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu on Saturday asked President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan whether he has sold off his own dollars after the president called on the nation to sell off foreign exchange to help stem the depreciation of the Turkish lira.
In remarks on Saturday in Adana, Kılıçdaroğlu made reference to shoeboxes, which became the symbol of a corruption investigation in December 2013 that implicated several ministers in then-Prime Minister Erdoğan’s government. In police searches, dollars stashed in shoeboxes were found as part of the corruption investigation, which was covered up by the government. President Erdoğan has been accused of having secret accounts in foreign banks over the years. A US cable in Wikileaks had also mentioned rumors of Erdoğan’s accounts in Swiss banks.
While Kılıçdaroğlu was urging Erdoğan to exchange his dollars for Turkish lira, Erdoğan repeated his call to the nation on same day. “Come, bring the savings under your pillow and invest it in Turkish lira. Let’s stabilize the market with this money,” Erdoğan said. He further stated that he is alone in his call to reduce interest rates, considering them a tool of exploitation.
Kılıçdaroğlu’s remarks came during a visit to Adana following a tragedy that cost the lives of 11 schoolgirls and one staff member in a fire that broke out in a dormitory this past week.