Turkish opposition leader resigns
The leader of Turkey's main opposition party, Deniz Baykal, resigned on Monday saying he was the victim of a conspiracy following the release of a videotape on the Internet purporting to show him and a woman in a bedroom.
Baykal, leader of the secularist Republican People's Party (CHP), said the ruling party -- the AK Party, whose roots lie in political Islam -- must have had knowledge of the videotape.
"My resignation does not mean running away, or giving in," Baykal told a televised news conference. His resignation came as the government prepares to send a constitutional reform package to a national referendum. The CHP has threatened to try to block the reforms through the Constitutional Court.
On Friday, Vakit newspaper website posted a video record of private images of Deniz Baykal and a naked woman. Thereafter, video disappeared from Vakit website and appeared on Youtube. It is yet unclear whether the video is true or mounted.
According to Turkish press, the authorities have nothing to do with the dissemination of the shameful video.
According to Turkish Sabah, the footage was aired by Baykal's proponents.
"Baykal may have been made victim to personal promiscuous footage taken of him by a hidden camera and aired on a number of websites early of Friday. CHP deputies claim the footage was a ‘shameful montage,' while those close to Baykal are stating they will be pursuing all legal options to reprimand the perpetrators," writes Sabah.
The Public Prosecution Office has also begun an investigation into the matter.
