Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) deputy Elif Doğan Türkmen resigned on Saturday from Parliament’s Presidential Council after mounting reactions over her high official postage bills.
The statement announcing Türkmen’s resignation was released by the CHP on Saturday.
On Friday CHP Chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu had demanded Türkmen’s resignation from her council position in Parliament.
Following calls for her to step down, Türkmen said in her first statement that she did not believe what she did was wrong. She added that she was not aware that the cost of mailing letters could be that high. Türkmen also defended herself by noting that the president and prime minister also sent letters to people ahead of elections.
Adana deputy Türkmen ranked first in Parliament among deputies with an annual postage bill of TL 1,089,000, followed by bills totaling TL 500,000 and TL 400,000. The annual cost of legislator communications was announced to be more than TL 10 million.