Turkey: Opposition leader to pay over false claims

By Murat Paksoy, Ali Cevahir Akturk and Filiz Kinik

ISTANBUL (AA) - An Istanbul court on Tuesday sentenced Turkey’s main opposition leader to pay damages to the president over false claims of money transfers.

The Anadolu 20th Civil Court of First Instance ordered Republican People's Party (CHP) head Kemal Kilicdaroglu to pay 130,000 Turkish liras ($23,620) over his claims that Recep Tayyip Erdogan had made illicit money transfers to the Isle of Man, a British crown dependency.

Kilicdaroglu made the claims in a speech at a CHP group meeting in November 2017.

There are now four separate suits seeking damages from Kilicdaroglu on the same claims targeting Erdogan and his relatives, with the compensation amount now totaling 828,000 Turkish liras (roughly $150,000).