AKP government and opposition in blame game for secretly meeting with the IMF

The opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) has accused the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) government of secretly meeting with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The CHP's accusations come one week after the AKP itself accused the CHP and the right-wing nationalist Good Party (İP) of doing the very same thing.

Tuesday October 01 2019 05:01 pm

Duvar English

The opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) has accused the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) government of secretly meeting with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Sept. 30, after Finance Ministry Berat Albayrak unveiled the government's New Economic Program (YEP).

CHP spokesman Faik Öztrak criticized the unveiling of the YEP on the last day of the month when it is legally supposed to be announced within the first week of the month. He claimed that the reason for this was that the government had been in talks with the IMF for eleven days, but had declined to reveal this to the public.

“Just as they did with McKinsey, they are pulling secret, hidden deals with the IMF. With this they will try to convince foreign investors to bring money into the country. But they shouldn't bother, an understanding of management that lacks competence and jurisprudence will neither convince investors nor our country,” Öztrak said, referring to the McKinsey firm, an American consulting firm that the opposition criticized Albayrak for working with last year.

“The fragilities of Turkey's economy can no longer fit into a sack. Today the foreign debt figures were announced. Compared to 2018, they increased by $2.3 billion, for at total of $447 billion. It went from 56.3 percent to 62 percent of the country's GDP. This is a terrible record that we have not previously witnessed in the history of the Turkish republic. We didn't even experience this during the crises of 2000 and 2009,” Öztrak said.

AKP had first accused CHP for the very same thing

The CHP's accusations of the government secretly meeting with the IMF comes one week after the AKP accused the CHP and the right-wing nationalist Good Party (İP) of doing the very same thing.

“It has been revealed that the CHP conducted a secret, closed meeting. The IMF is an international organization, and Turkey is a member. Of course the CHP can have a meeting but why is it held secretly? What was discussed, was the CHP given a roll? Was this deliberately concealed from the public?” said AKP deputy Mehmet Muş.