Erdoğan says critics of Albayrak 'ungrateful'

Photo: AA

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President and Justice and Development Party (AKP) Chair Recep Tayyip Erdoğan defended Berat Albayrak, his son-in-law, who resigned as the minister of treasury and finance in November, against the opposition's recent criticism.

The opposition holds Albayrak responsible for causing the Central Bank to run out of foreign exchange reserves in a bid to keep the US dollar's exchange rate low.

Opposition politicians have been asking "Where is the 128 billion dollars?" and "Where is the groom?" citing Albayrak's lack of public appearance since his resignation.

Erdoğan told his party's parliamentary group that Albayrak's services since his term as the minister of energy had been very important, citing the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant project, which is still under development.

He also denied the claims that the Central Bank has run out of foreign exchange reserves.

"That amount of money is in the nation's Treasury and in the Central Bank. There is nothing lost," he said, calling Albayrak's critics "ungrateful."

About two weeks ago, he said the money had been used to help the country's economy during the coronavirus pandemic. (DŞ/VK)