The public relations department of the Turkish president’s office has rejected a request from a Cumhuriyet daily reporter for information on the number of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s advisors and their salaries on the grounds that the information is of no interest to the public, the newspaper reported on Wednesday.
The Cumhuriyet reporter, whose name was not revealed, asked the presidency for the number of Erdoğan’s advisors and their monthly salaries in pursuance of the right to information.
The reporter failed to receive a response to the questions because the public relations department of the Turkish president’s office said the questions were outside the scope of the law on the right to information and of no interest to the public.
Media reports say Erdoğan has 24 advisors, yet there is no official information confirming it.
The number of advisors, however, is known to have increased after Erdoğan moved to the lavish presidential palace in Ankara.
Veli Ağbaba, Malatya deputy from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), also requested information about the salaries of Erdoğan’s chief advisors in 2016 from the General Secretariat of the Presidency and received the same response, which said it was of no interest to the public.