If Turkey was Japan all ministers would resign: main opposition CHP

Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has referred to a tragic seven-year-old event from Japan to criticize the government and a former Cabinet minister over alleged bribery and corruption.

"Allow me to give an example from Japan. A Japanese agriculture minister was accused [of corruption] and he committed suicide. If we had the Japanese culture, then we would not have any one left in the Cabinet," Kılıçdaroğlu said at a Dec. 17 symposium held by the Turkish Bars Union to mark the first anniversary of the Dec. 17 and Dec. 25 corruption probes.

In 2007, Japanese agriculture minister Toshikatsu Matsuoka hung himself after allegations of fiscal misconduct.

CHP head Kılıçdaroğlu also vowed to "never allow" the government to cover up corruption and graft claims, on the first anniversary of the launch of a massive probe against former ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) ministers.

"I say ‘We are celebrating the first anniversary' because this is a corruption-sensitive society that looks to the future with great hope," he said.

"We are here together on the occasion of the first anniversary of the greatest corruption issue in the history of the Turkish Republic. We will not only internalize this, we'll also reflect this sensitivity to the people," Kılıçdaroğlu added.

Four Cabinet ministers had to resign from their posts amid the claims that surfaced last December, but the government used all of its power to negate an effective probe into the claims. However, the CHP head vowed that his party was "here to not forget and to not let the people forget this great corruption."

Kılıçdaroğlu cited leaders such as Romania's Nicolae Ceausescu, Chile's Agosto Pinochet, Cuba's...