CHP’s banner waves over Bosphorus: ‘Where is 128 billion dollars?’

* Photo: Mahmut Tanal / social media

Click to read the article in Turkish

Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) MPs Ali Mahir Başarır, Sera Kadıgil and Mahmut Tanal hung a banner of "Where is 128 billion dollars" on the Bosphorus bridge yesterday morning (May 16).

The protest of the MPs came amid the opposition's ongoing demands to learn the fate and whereabouts of the 'missing' Central Bank reserves.

CHP's Kadıgil shared the banner on her social media account, attaching the note, "Have a good Sunday, İstanbul! Where is 128 billion dollars?"

İyi pazarlar İstanbul! #128MilyarDolarNerede pic.twitter.com/lfJIcWUhRc

— Sera Kadıgil (@serakadigil) May 16, 2021

'We will not let it be forgotten'

Speaking to bianet about their protest, Sera Kadıgil has said:

"The officers came and asked us to take down the banner. As we had ended our protest, we took down the banner, gave our message and left.

"128 billion dollars is a huge amount of money; it is not an amount that we can forgive and forget. We will bring the ones who wasted the nation's money to account. No one should think that this question of 'Where is 128 billion dollars' will be forgotten. We will not let it be forgotten."

What happened?

In April 2021, opposition parties alleged that 128 billion dollars was missing in the reserves of the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey. Since then, the opposition have been demanding that the fate and whereabouts of the 'missing' money be brought into light. Even an online game has been developed about the issue on 128milyardolar.net (128 billion dollars).

While the opposition parties also hung banners asking "Where is 128 billion dollars" in the meantime, these banners were taken down, including from party buildings, by the law enforcement.

Fahrettin Altun, the Presidency's Communications Director, responded to the allegations on Twitter on April 16. Dismissing the allegations, Altun said that Turkey adopted the "Presidential System" four years ago and argued that important steps have been taken since then. (EMK/SD)