“The police and intelligence knew everything. They were monitoring them, wiretapping their communication and even had a photo of the suicide bombers,” he told Today's Zaman in an exclusive interview on Tuesday.
“The government was certainly aware of the Ankara process,” Kılıçdaroğlu remarked, accusing the government of allowing ISIL to operate freely in several provinces across Turkey.
The Turkish media have been extensively covering a series of failures on the capture of the two suspected suicide bombers, who killed 102 people in the heart of the Turkish capital of Ankara on Oct. 10. The reports showed they were on a list of potential suicide bombers the police were keeping track of.
“The police wanted to take security measures. The reason why security measures were not implemented or why these suspects were not taken into custody is the absence of orders by the political authority to do what was required of the police,” he explained.
“I mean clearly that the government has protected ISIL,” Kılıçdaroğlu said.
Official tape recordings acquired from an indictment that was prepared in May by the Adıyaman Chief Public Prosecutor's Office -- based on the findings of an investigation that was launched in 2013 after the families of some of the suspects told the authorities that they believed their sons had joined the terrorist ISIL group -- have also confirmed that the two suspected Ankara bombers were under police surveillance before the attack, intensifying suspicions of serious negligence on the part of the government in the months leading up to the attack.
The records were shared with the press by CHP deputies Eren Erdem and Ali Şeker at a press conference in Parliament last week.
The indictment listed 19 people as suspected al-Qaeda members; however, the charges were eventually dropped.
The security footage revealed in the media showed that the suspects came to Ankara's Gölbaşı district in a vehicle on Oct. 10, the day the Ankara attack took place. They then got into a taxi and went to a cafe in the city's Balgat neighborhood. The two bombers had breakfast together there and then went to the front of the Ankara train station, where the rally was going to take place.
Kılıçdaroğlu said the government defense that there had been no security breach was a laughable claim, given that the bombers were roaming freely all the way from southeast Turkey to Ankara and even having breakfast and taking a stroll before the attack without the police noticing them.
The main opposition leader emphasized that if they come to power either alone in a single-party government or with a coalition partner, the CHP will insist on a 180-degree reversal of Turkey's foreign policy.
“I will seal the border with Syria to prevent radicals from crossing either way. I will never allow ISIL to operate inside Turkey,” he vowed.
Noting that the government knows all the ISIL cells in Turkey and is familiar with the neighborhoods where ISIL has raised funds and recruited members, he said, “They did not do anything about them, however.”
Gov't does not consider ISIL a terrorist group
The main opposition leader went as far as to accuse the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government of not considering ISIL a terrorist group.
He recalled that Prime Minister and AK Party Chairman Ahmet Davutoğlu admitted last week that the authorities had a list of potential suicide bombers but could not arrest them unless those bombers act. “In our penal code, being a member of a terrorist organization is enough to get arrested,” Kılıçdaroğlu said.
He noted that the government is not arresting ISIL members because it does not consider them as terrorists. “Davutoğlu's admission that they cannot round them up unless they act is an open admission of that fact,” he lamented.
“It does not matter whether they blow themselves up or possess firearms. Simply being a member of a terrorist group is enough to charge and prosecute them,” he explained. “Otherwise, why have the police and the Interior Ministry been distributing photos of these bombers and issued an alert?” he asked.
In sharp contrast, he said the government has been cracking down on critics and arresting them based on a “reasonable suspicion” clause enacted into the penal code last year to detain and prosecute suspects on less solid grounds.
Penal courts of peace must be abolished
Commenting on the penal courts of peace that were established in 2014 as part of what then-Prime Minister and now President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan called a "special project," to go after critics and opponents, Kılıçdaroğlu said these courts must be abolished.
“This is nothing but a continuation of the State Security Courts [DGM],” he said, stressing that the judiciary is under government pressure and judges are simply doing the bidding of the political authority.
“They just changed the name of the DGM to penal courts of peace,” he said.
The notorious DGMs were abolished a decade ago under pressure from the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), which made it clear that the DGMs were no longer considered to be an effective remedy after so many complaints had been filed about these courts with the ECtHR.
“The judiciary must be independent and impartial,” Kılıçdaroğlu underlined.
He warned civil servants to avoid complying with unlawful orders issued by the government, saying the civil service law is very clear that any governor, police chief or other public employee has to refuse to obey an unlawfully issued order.
“Those who have violated the laws in line with the government's wishes will be held accountable for what they did,” the CHP leader noted.
Press freedom getting worse
Kılıçdaroğlu also talked about the problems of the right to free speech and freedom of the press under the AK Party government, saying that censorship has reached a new peak with government-controlled service companies unlawfully removing critical and independent networks from their line-ups.
Earlier this month, the Digiturk satellite network stopped broadcasting seven stations thought to be critical of the government, prompting a boycott by thousands of viewers who have canceled their subscriptions.
In reaction to Digiturk's decision, main opposition leader Kılıçdaroğlu said he canceled the CHP's subscription to Digiturk and called on millions of his supporters to do the same.
He underlined that the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTÜK), which asked the Digiturk satellite network to explain why it had stopped broadcasting seven TV stations that are critical of the government, must follow up on this issue. “If legally possible, RTÜK must revoke Digiturk's license,” he said.
Kılıçdaroğlu promised that he will ask RTÜK members who were elected from the CHP's quota to weigh in on this matter.
In its decision, RTÜK members decided to ask Digiturk to issue a written statement to explain the grounds for the controversial removal of the channels. RTÜK officials will later decide whether or not to impose a sanction on the network after receiving the statement.
The RTÜK decision was won by five votes to four, with the two members from the CHP, two from the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and a member from the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) voting for the decision, while the four members from the AK Party voted against it.
The main opposition leader also criticized Turkcell, the mobile phone operator, for becoming a government-owned company. “It only gives advertisements to pro-government media outlets. This is also the same for public banks,” Kılıçdaroğlu said, stressing that this practice is a kind of indirect censorship and a major obstacle to press freedom. “The competition authority must intervene in this,” he said.
Turkcell TV+, an online TV streaming service from Internet provider Superonline and Tivibu, another service provided by TTNet, previously announced that they had removed the stations in question from their platforms by order of the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office on the suspicion that they support a terrorist organization.
Even a children's station, Yumurcak TV, was dropped, prompting anger from some users who were perplexed at the idea that a children's TV station could support terrorism. Teledünya and Kablo TV, two digital satellite platforms that use the satellite company Türksat's infrastructure, also stopped the broadcast of the channels on Monday.
Kılıçdaroğlu also reacted to recent news that the state-owned Turkish Satellite Communications Company (Türksat) gave three TV channels notice that their contracts would not be renewed as of next month.
TV channels Irmak TV, Bugün TV and Kanaltürk, known for their critical stance against the government, were recently notified by Türksat that their contracts would not be renewed as of November.
The channels were told to remove their platforms from Türksat's infrastructure by the end of the month.
The CHP leader said the government has been trying to silence opposition voices, including theirs, by shutting down critical and independent TV stations.
Foreign policy must be changed
Asked whether he had heard any regrets from Prime Minister Davutoğlu on any failures in foreign policy during his private exchanges with him, Kılıçdaroğlu replied, “Never.”
“I never heard him saying, ‘We made a mistake here',” he recounted. “In contrast, from the first day I became the chairman of the CHP, I've been saying that Turkey's foreign policy must change,” the CHP leader added.
“I sent a letter to Erdoğan on Aug. 24, 2012, asking him to convene a major international conference with the participation of the US, Russia, the EU, the Arab League, Iran and all the opposing sides from Syria. Turkey could have led this initiative. The response I received was mind your own business,” he said.
Kılıçdaroğlu made it clear that he would never allow arms transfers to Syria if the CHP comes to power.
“The American and Russian roles are very important in resolving the Syrian conflict. We could help them out,” he said.
Regarding the refugee crisis, the CHP leader said two actions must be taken to address this growing problem. “First of all, we need to stop the bloodshed in Syria. All countries must aim for that. With or without Bashar al-Assad, this conflict must end. Second, Syria must be rebuilt. The European states must delve into their pockets,” he stressed.
On the EU's latest offer concerning the refugee crisis and the visit of German Chancellor Angela Merkel to Turkey, the CHP leader said he cannot agree with the proposed plan. “Turkey is a collection camp for refugees,” he said.
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