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Turkish President Calls Accusations of Family Bank Transfers Abroad Lies


Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses his supporters at the parliament in Ankara, Turkey, Nov. 28. 2017.
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses his supporters at the parliament in Ankara, Turkey, Nov. 28. 2017.

President Tayyip Erdogan dismissed as lies accusations by Turkey's main opposition party that his family has moved millions of dollars into foreign bank accounts to avoid taxes.

The Republican People's Party (CHP) filed a parliamentary motion requesting an investigation into its allegations, which CHP leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu says he can back with documents detailing some $14 million in money transfers by members of Erdogan's family to the Isle of Man.

Erdogan, who has led Turkey since 2003, denied the accusations against his family and said he would take the CHP leader to court.

"These people haven't sent a dime abroad," Erdogan said in a speech, adding that Kilicdaroglu was "telling lies."

Erdogan's lawyer says the documents are fake and has called on Kilicdaroglu to hand them over to prosecutors.

CHP Spokesman Bulent Tezcan was quoted by Hurriyet newspaper as saying the prosecutor had no role to play in the matter.

"We know you are trying to drown this out and silence everyone, but we will not be silenced," he said. "It is not ethical. Our chairman did not say whether this was a crime or not. He has made no evaluation in criminal terms."

To form any investigative commission, a majority vote would be needed in a parliament which is dominated by the AK Party that Erdogan founded.

Erdogan has dominated Turkish politics in almost 15 years as prime minister and then president and remains by far the country's most popular leader; but opponents accuse him of increasingly authoritarian conduct.

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    Reuters

    Reuters is a news agency founded in 1851 and owned by the Thomson Reuters Corporation based in Toronto, Canada. One of the world's largest wire services, it provides financial news as well as international coverage in over 16 languages to more than 1000 newspapers and 750 broadcasters around the globe.

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