Erdogan calls opposition leader's claims 'delusional'

By Sibel Ugurlu

ANKARA

The claims made by Turkey's main opposition leader are “delusional”, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday.

Addressing a Forestry Ministry event in capital Ankara, Erdogan said “[Kemal Kilicdaroglu] had to respond to these delusional [claims] of opposition leader” at a time when Turkey had more important issues to deal with.

About the “handful of papers” Kilicdaroglu showed at the parliament during his party’s group meeting on Tuesday as evidence of illegal money transfer to a foreign company, Erdogan said the opposition party leader did not submit this evidence to either a media outlet or any legal departments.

“For now, only [Kilicdaroglu] and those who gave him these documents know what they are about.”

Erdogan said no money had been sent abroad “instead money was sent to these people [facing accusations] as they had sold their companies”.

The president also said Turkey had sufficient resources to fund its own ambitious infrastructure projects.

Major construction projects used to be carried out by foreign companies and engineers due to limitations on Turkish resources, he added.

“However, now we drive forward national and local understanding for all our infrastructure projects,” he told the audience.

Turkish contractors ranked second among the top 250 companies in 2016, according to the Turkish Contractors Association.