A Turkish court ordered Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the leader of Turkey's main opposition, the Republican People's Party, to pay 359,000 Turkish liras ($52,350) to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his relatives, whom the politician had previously accused of offshore financial fraud, the NTV broadcaster reported on Thursday
ANKARA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th July, 2020) A Turkish court ordered Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the leader of Turkey's main opposition, the Republican People's Party, to pay 359,000 Turkish liras ($52,350) to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his relatives, whom the politician had previously accused of offshore financial fraud, the NTV broadcaster reported on Thursday.
In November 2017, the opposition leader said that he had documents proving that Erdogan's relatives had transferred millions of Dollars to an offshore company on the Isle of Man between 2011-2012. Earlier this week, media reported that during his party's parliamentary meeting, Kilicdaroglu once again accused Erdogan of not being transparent in disclosing his offshore assets.
According to the broadcaster, the court ruled that the documents presented by Kilicdaroglu were authentic, but the transfer of money was carried out legally and was not tax avoidance.
Back in 2017, the ruling Justice and Development Party, led by Erdogan, blocked proceedings in parliament in connection with publications about the involvement of the sons of then Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim in offshore companies. Kilicdaroglu criticized the lawmakers' decision and called on Erdogan to make public data on his own financial status, as, according to the opposition leader, the children, relatives and associates of the Turkish president had invested several million dollars in an offshore company.
In response, Erdogan said he would resign if Kilicdaroglu proved the charges against him, while the president's lawyers filed a lawsuit against the lawmaker, demanding that he pay compensation in the amount of $380,000 for causing Erdogan non-pecuniary damage with his statement.
