CHP deputy accused of being 'pro-PKK' by constituent

The Republican People's Party (CHP) deputy Sezgin Tanrıkulu was protested by a citizen yesterday for his pro-PKK statements.

After participating at a ceremony in Istanbul's Taksim district marking the April 23 National Sovereignty and Children's Day, a citizen, who introduced himself as a CHP voter, approached Tanrıkulu and confronted him by saying "We don't want pro-PKK deputies in the CHP. As CHP voters, we want Kemalist deputies in the party." After the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK)'s effective operations against terrorism with its domestically made unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs), pro-PKK media outlets made claims that the TSK had killed civilians in its operations. It was previously reported that the PKK complained of the UCAVs' effectiveness in their radio communications.

Tanrıkulu voiced the same allegations in line with the PKK and its media outlets' allegations, saying on Twitter on Sept. 6, "Unmanned combat aerial vehicles named Bayraktar struck civilians, innocents. I will continue to follow this issue."

The allegations made by Tanrıkulu were rejected by the Defense Ministry in a written statement. Also, an investigation was launched into Tanrıkulu for his claims.

Tanrıkulu was previously the lawyer for the PKK's imprisoned leader Abdullah Öcalan and he was identified as "A reliable source for the CIA" in the Stratfor documents leaked by the Wikileaks.