Prosecutors launch probe into CHP leader's allegations

ANKARA

Prosecutors in the Turkish capital have launched an investigation into Turkey's main opposition leader over his allegations of irregular money transfers to an overseas company.

The Ankara Public Prosecutor’s Office said they have initiated an investigation over Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu's speech in parliament this Tuesday claiming that money was transferred irregularly to Bellway Ltd, an overseas company.

Though Kilicdaroglu claimed that he had official receipts and memos related to the transaction, company officials have denied the documents' authenticity, said the office.

Later on Thursday, Turan Oner, a lawyer for the company, told Anadolu Agency that all the bank receipts and SWIFT transfer documents related to the alleged money transfers were fake.

Oner said the alleged money transfers attributed to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s relatives were not in fact sent to Bellway's accounts.

“After Cumhuriyet daily published photos of the document on their website, we enlarged the images and investigated it.

"We saw that it includes our company’s name. From our investigations of our records and bank accounts, we saw that no money was transferred to our bank accounts by the relatives" of Erdogan, Oner said.

Oner also said Bellway had filed a criminal complaint over the allegations.

Prosecutors also demanded that the CHP send them all documents related to the allegations under Article 332 of the Turkish Procedural Code.

Erdogan has firmly denied the accusations, urging Kilicdaroglu to share the documents with the media. Erdogan's lawyer also called on Kilicdaroglu to file a legal complaint regarding his accusation and submit the documents to prosecutors.

But CHP spokesperson Bulent Tezcan on Wednesday said the party would neither file a legal complaint nor share the documents with the media.