Wads of cash raise vote-buying questions for CHP
THE CHIEF Prosecutor’s Office in Istanbul launched an investigation into a security camera footage showing figures linked to the Republican People’s Party (CHP) counting heaps of cash. Critics of the main opposition party claimed that the money, which allegedly amounted to TL 15 million ($470,000), was used to “buy” delegates in favor of current Chair Özgür Özel, who succeeded Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu in a November 2023 vote.
The CHP, which is bracing for the March 31 municipal elections, denied the allegations regarding the video where Fatih Keleş, a close confidante of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu and current head of the municipality’s sports club, is seen among people counting the cash in what appears to be an office of the CHP. The party’s Istanbul branch released a statement and said the money was for the purchase of the branch’s new building in Istanbul in 2019, and the footage was from the camera of the office of a lawyer representing the property owner. The party blamed the lawyer for leaking the footage and insisted that the said lawyer tried to blackmail the party, though the footage did not have any “criminal actions.”
However, critics questioned why the party, which also released documents regarding the purchase, did not “wire” money so that everything would be on record and in line with laws regulating the financial affairs of the political parties. The CHP claimed the money was collected through a campaign to purchase a new office for the party in Istanbul, but legal experts say that the party has to accept an amount well below TL 15 million as a donation and it should go through a bank and an official receipt.
Mustafa Kemal Çiçek, a former lawyer for the CHP, slammed the party and claimed that the receipt document the party released in response to allegations was “forged.” Çiçek, quoted by Turkish media outlets, said the CHP paid over TL 30 million for the purchase of the building in 2019, and the majority of the money was sent by the CHP administration based in Ankara and the rest was covered by Treasury support for political parties. One month later. Çiçek underlined that the acquisition payment went through a bank, not personally delivered as the video showed.
The footage emerged a few weeks after the parliamentary staff discovered a bag containing $250,000 left in the room of a CHP lawmaker. Two lawmakers associated with the find denied the allegations after some critics claimed the money was “left” as a bribe or would be used to “buy supporters” for the party.