ANKARA: Irritated by accusations of lavishness, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has vowed to resign if the leader of the main opposition can find a single golden toilet seat in his vast new palace.
Kemal Kilicdaroglu of the Republican People’s Party (CHP) has repeatedly criticized Erdogan’s profligacy in campaign speeches ahead of a June 7 parliamentary election.
Gentlemen in Ankara, palaces have been built for you, planes bought, Mercedes cars purchased … golden seats have been bought, that’s how you use the toilet,” Kilicdaroglu said at a rally in the Aegean city of Izmir on Saturday.
Erdogan, who moved into the controversial new 1,000-room palace complex after winning a presidential election last August, challenged Kilicdaroglu to prove his assertion.
I invite him to please come and take a tour … I wonder if he will be able to find such a golden toilet seat in any of these washrooms,” Erdogan said in an interview with state broadcaster TRT late on Sunday.
