Corruption, a large and troublesome problem for Turkey, led to the demise of several governments in the past and analysts warn that the same fate might await the Justice and Development Party (AK Party), some of whose members have been targeted as part of a major bribery and fraud operation along with dozens of businessmen and bureaucrats, unless the party proves itself “clean.”
Turkey's recent past is filled with political parties that were swept to power thanks to their promises to root out corruption in the country but which disappeared from the political scene due to claims of corruption and fraud in their own ranks.
Turkey's recent past is filled with political parties that were swept to power thanks to their promises to root out corruption in the country but which disappeared from the political scene due to claims of corruption and fraud in their own ranks.
“Turkish people are very sensitive about corruption. They consider corruption to be ‘exploiting the poor and orphans.' Many political parties suffered losses in their votes and power due to claims of corruption and fraud. Furthermore, some others were shut down due to the same claims,” stated Nazlı Ilıcak, a veteran journalist, in remarks to Sunday's Zaman.
On Dec. 17, İstanbul and Ankara police staged dawn raids and detained over 50 people as part of a major investigation into claims of corruption and bribery. Among the detainees were bureaucrats, well-known businesspeople and the sons of three ministers. Allegations emerged that several ministers were also implicated in bribery. The suspects are accused of rigging state tenders, accepting and facilitating bribes for major urbanization projects, obtaining construction permits for protected land areas in exchange for money, helping foreigners to obtain Turkish citizenship through falsified documents, involvement in export fraud, forgery of documents and gold smuggling. There are also claims that the suspects illegally sold historical artifacts that were unearthed during excavations of the Marmaray underwater rail project that connects Europe and Asia.
The corruption and bribery investigation drew a harsh reaction from the AK Party and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan defined it as a “dirty operation” against the government. Twenty-nine senior police officials from the İstanbul and Ankara police departments who had been ordered by the prosecutor's office to conduct the investigation were immediately removed from their posts and two new prosecutors were appointed to the investigation. The removals and the appointment of new prosecutors led to comments from legal experts that efforts were under way to impede the investigation.
In addition, the graft investigation brought up questions about the government's ability to fight corruption.
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