A woman who deposited money in a state-owned bank as a contribution to the presidential campaign of Republican People’s Party (CHP) candidate Muharrem İnce has claimed that the money ended up in the account of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the ruling Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) presidential candidate.
According to tweets from CHP deputy Barış Yarkadaş, Leyla Yılmaz deposited TL 50 for İnce’s campaign in Ziraat Bank, but the receipt she was given shows that the money went to Erdoğan’s campaign account.
Yılmaz said she is certain that she deposited the funds to İnce’s account and that no mistake was made on her part.
Yarkadaş called on Ziraat Bank to offer an apology to Yılmaz and correct the mistake.
President Erdoğan announced in April that parliamentary and presidential elections, originally scheduled for November 2019, will now be held on 24 June, meaning a new political system that will increase the powers of the president will take effect a year early.
Turkey is switching from a parliamentary system to a presidential one, abolishing the office of the prime minister and decreasing the powers of the parliament, following a narrowly approved referendum in April 2017. The changes take effect with the elections in June.
There are widespread suspicions that President Erdoğan will resort to election rigging to secure an election victory, and opposition parties are vowing to do their best to ensure election security.