Cocaine debate in Parliament: Whose ship was carrying 10 tons of cocaine?

In the General Assembly of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM), a motion to establish a Parliamentary Research Commission on drug addiction was rejected by the votes of AKP and MHP deputies. The agenda was reignited by the emergence of a ship belonging to a Turkish firm that was caught off the Canary Islands with 10 tons of cocaine.

İYİ Party Bursa Deputy Yüksel Selçuk Türkoğlu emphasized in his speech at the general assembly that the drug crisis the country is facing cannot be solved solely through operations targeting celebrities. Türkoğlu drew attention to major criminal networks by stating, “Is Oktay Kaynarca, Aleyna Tilki, Mehmet Akif Ersoy, or Rümeysa Cebeci responsible for this scourge? Are they the ones poisoning the children of this country? You cannot eradicate drugs by handcuffing the users.”

HE ASKED ABOUT THE 10 TONS OF COCAINE

Touching on the details regarding the ship, Türkoğlu pointed to the amount of cocaine being transported and the fact that the ship in question is linked to a Turkey-based company. He argued that the real culprits in the drug trade must be exposed, stating, “There are artists on the screens every day, but no drug lords. The ship carrying 10 tons of cocaine turned out to belong to a Turkish company. Whose ship is this? Which bosses are behind it, and which politicians are associated with them? We have seen the small fish, where are the big fish? Bring me a drug lord.”

CHP Istanbul Deputy Ali Gökçe drew attention to the financial flows linked to drug trafficking in Turkey. Pointing to the size of the illegal betting sector, Gökçe said, “The illegal betting market in Turkey is over 50 billion dollars. This money does not go into production or industry. This money is being transferred to criminal networks.”