The main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) on Sunday denied a statement by Speaker of Parliament İsmail Kahraman saying that he invited CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu to a meeting between President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and party leaders but that Kılıçdaroğlu had preferred not to participate.
President Erdoğan met with Prime Minister Binali Yldırım, Nationalist Movement Party leader (MHP) Devlet Bahiçeli and Parliament Speaker Kahraman in the speaker’s office during the opening of the third legislative session of the 26th Parliament in Ankara.
“It is not befitting of the speaker of parliament to lie,” said a statement issued by the CHP parliamentary group, DHA reported.
“The statement claiming that our chairman [Kılıçdaroğlu] was invited to a meeting in the office of the speaker of parliament is not true. Mr. Chairman was neither aware of the meeting nor was he invited,” the CHP said in the statement.
According to the statement, Kahraman apologized to CHP leader Kılıçdaroğlu by calling him on the phone.