This one on massive graft probe is from my column in Today’s Zaman, today:
| It stinks. This is the bluntest description of what the graft probe has revealed so far. This is a three-pronged operation involving more than 50 suspects, but Turkey has never seen an investigation into four ministers — who form part of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s inner circle — and their sons. | |
|
What strikes us is that the inquiry required the Minister of Interior, Muammer Güler, who is the superior elected authority over the police, to be kept out of the loop — for obvious reasons. We see a massive amount of money — tens of billions of euros — and, if the allegations prove to be true, a deep level of corruption, not only in the Fatih district of old İstanbul, but beyond — possibly stretching into other cities. Suspicions about corruption have been under the surface for the past two or three years. But as the conglomerate-owned media were increasingly reigned in — perhaps for this reason — the public could only guess. To read more: http://www.todayszaman.com/columnist/yavuz-baydar_334424_rotten.html |