Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday that he had ordered his ministers to stop receiving consulting services from U.S. firm McKinsey, after the deal came under fire from the main opposition.
Last month, Finance Minister Berat Albayrak, who is also Erdogan’s son-in-law, announced thatTurkey had decided to work with McKinsey as part of efforts to implement a new medium-term economic programme.
Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the leader of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), this week accused Erdogan of siding with U.S. firms at a time when relations with Washington have been hit by the detention of a U.S. evangelical pastor in Turkey and other issues.
“This person (Kilicdaroglu) is trying to corner us by asking questions about a consultancy firm that has been paid in full to help our economic management,” Erdogan told members of his ruling AK Party.
“In order to not give him that chance … I told all my ministers to no longer receive consultancy from them (McKinsey).”
McKinsey was not immediately available for comment.