Addressing Parliament during a special session to commemorate the first anniversary of a controversial coup attempt on July 15, 2016, Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party’s (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu questioned the failure of the army and intelligence heads to testify to the Parliament’s Coup Investigation Commission.
Criticizing the written testimonies submitted by National Intelligence Organization (MİT) Undersecretary Hakan Fidan and Chief of General Staff Gen. Hulusi Akar, the main opposition leader said it is not acceptable for them not to testify in person.
“On whose order were they prevented from testifying to the commission? On what grounds?” Kılıçdaroğlu asked during the session in which all party leaders addressed the General Assembly.
In addition, Kılıçdaroğlu claimed the information provided by MİT on the coup attempt has not been satisfactory. He asked why Adil Öksüz, a prime suspect of the coup with alleged ties to the Gülen movement, was not monitored by intelligence. Kılıçdaroğlu urged for clarification of the political leg of the junta as he claimed it has deliberately been left in the dark..
Meanwhile, Kılıçdaroğlu has decided to not attend an early Sunday morning ceremony in Parliament to observe the first anniversary of a coup attempt last July because his speech was removed from the schedule following his speech in Parliament.
A special ceremony was held in Parliament at 2.32 a.m. Sunday morning since the parliament building was attacked by coup plotters at that time last year. Despite an earlier announcement, Kılıçdaroğlu was excluded from the program, although Turkey’s autocratic President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has delivered a speech as planned.
After Kılıçdaroğlu led a 25-day “March for Justice” from Ankara to İstanbul, Erdoğan had accused him of taking sides with terrorist organizations.
President Erdoğan has held the Gülen movement responsible for the coup since the first hours of the attempt, although Fethullah Gülen and the movement have strongly denied any involvement. (SCF with turkishminute.com) July 16, 2017
