In response to claims by main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) Chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu on Tuesday that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s close circle sent about $15 million to an offshore company called Bellway Limited on the Isle of Mann, Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) İstanbul deputy Metin Külünk said Kılıçdaroğlu has become a national security issue.
“Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu and the CHP have become a national security issue for Turkey. It must be evaluated at the National Security Council meeting,” Külünk tweeted on Tuesday.
Külünk also accused Kılıçdaroğlu of “acting with the Gülen movement” and “betraying Turkey.”
Testing Erdoğan’s challenge that he would resign if anyone were to reveal any documents proving allegations that he has money in offshore tax havens, Kılıçdaroğlu said during his party meeting in Parliament that Erdoğan’s brother-in-law, brother, son, his son’s father-in-law and his former executive assistant sent about $15 million to an offshore company called Bellway Limited on the Isle of Mann between December 2011 and January 2012.
The CHP leader also said Bellway Limited was founded on Aug. 1, 2011 by Sıtkı Ayan and that the company was transferred to Kazım Öztaş on Nov. 15, 2011.
But Ahmet Özel, a lawyer for President Erdoğan, stated that the documents referred to by Kılıçdaroğlu are fake and called on the CHP leader to submit documents to the prosecutor’s office today.
Ayan came to the attention of Turkey when a voice recording was leaked to the Internet in 2014.
In the alleged phone conversation between then-Prime Minister Erdoğan and his son Bilal Erdoğan that was uploaded to YouTube in 2014, Erdoğan allegedly tells Bilal to reject $10 million from Ayan, the owner of Som Petrol, which had been granted tax-free incentives by the government to build new oil pipelines from Iran, saying that the amount was too low.
“Don’t take it. Whatever he has promised us, he should bring this. If he is not going to bring that, there is no need,” the alleged voice of Erdoğan says.
“The others are bringing it. Why can’t he? What do they think this business is? … But don’t worry, they will fall into our lap,” the voice says.