Turkish Opposition Questions Erdogan on 500 Million Gift from Qatar. The political opposition in Turkey has strongly criticised President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for accepting a luxury aeroplane from Qatar as a gift.

The price tag for the plane would be about 500 million dollars. Erdogan defended himself by saying that the Boeing 747 is not meant for himself, but that it is “a gift to the Turkish state”.

“Qatar sold this plane, as far as I know, it was for an amount of around 500”, said Erdogan according to the newspaper Hurriyet, without mentioning a full figure.

Qatar Emir Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani heard that Turkey was interested in the Boeing 747-8, and according to Erdogan decided to give the device as a gift. “This plane is not mine, and it is owned by the state of the Turkish republic,” he said.

This did not, however, make the criticism stop. The plane has room typically for about four hundred people but has been rebuilt so that only 76 people can sit in the aircraft. According to the Republican People’s Party (CHP), the largest opposition party, you can, therefore, better call the Boeing “a flying palace” than a plane from the state.

The CHP earlier claimed that the government paid the plane with the taxpayer’s money. CHP leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu and legislator Gamze Tascier ask themselves questions about the high price tag when Turkey is faced with a currency crisis. She and also the media tweet about it with the hashtag Ucan Saray (flying palace).

“If it is state property, let citizens go aboard, can a citizen go aboard?” “Kilicdaroglu said in a television interview, calling on Erdogan to return the plane.

Erdogan has taken a massive turn to the CHP and said that he had indicted them. “They will crawl from the courtroom to the courtroom, all of them, including their party leader, he scandalises us, but we are winning the lawsuits, he is not tired of paying, we will not get tired of winning.”

Ankara and Foha have tightened the ties in recent years. In August, Qatar emir promised to invest 15 billion dollars in Turkey during a visit to Erdogan.