17th December, 2013
Turkish police detained the sons of three cabinet ministers and several high-profile businessmen on Tuesday in a sweeping probe into alleged bribery and corruption that sent shockwaves across the country.
The dawn raids targeted 37 people in Turkey’s largest city Istanbul and the capital Ankara suspected of fraud or bribery in connection with public tenders for construction projects, media reports said.
Istanbul governor Huseyin Avni Mutlu confirmed the operation but declined to comment on the details.
“There is an ongoing operation,” he told reporters. “It would not be proper to make a statement while the investigation is under way.”
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), which boasts of being pro-business, has pledged to root out corruption, a chronic problem in Turkey particularly in the booming construction industry.
But some political observers speculated that the raids stemmed from simmering tensions between Erdogan’s Islamic-rooted government and influential Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen which have burst out into the open ahead of elections next year.
Those detained include the sons of Interior Minister Muammer Guler, Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan and Environment Minister Erdogan Bayraktar.
The suspects also include well-known businessmen and bureaucrats including the chief executive of Turkish state bank Halkbank Suleyman Aslan and construction tycoon Ali Agaoglu, local media reported.
The suspects are accused of accepting and facilitating bribes for some projects and securing construction permits for protected areas in exchange for money, the Hurriyet newspaper reported.
It said the raids were the result of a year-long surveillance operation.
‘Turkey is not a banana republic’
In a speech after the raids, Erdogan vowed he would not bow to any “threat” or “dirty alliances” aimed at ruffling the feathers of his party, although it was not clear if he was referring to the police action or the dispute with exiled cleric Gulen.
“We will not bow to any threat as long as you stand behind us,” he said in the central Anatolian city of Konya, a conservative AKP bastion.
“Turkey is not a banana republic or a third class tribal state… Nobody inside or outside my country can stir up or trap my country.”
The feud between Erdogan and Gulen hit the headlines last month after the government floated plans to close down a network of private schools run by Gulen’s Hizmet movement.
The row exposed fractures in the religiously conservative power base of Erdogan, who has dominated Turkish politics for 11 years, ahead of a highly-charged election year beginning with local polls in March.
“It would not be wrong to see the latest bribery operation… as a new phase in the Gulen-government battle,” political analyst Rusen Cakir wrote on his website.
He said the Gulen movement has adopted an “attack is the best defence” tactic.
Gulen, 72, has been living in exile in the United States since 1999 to escape charges of plotting against the secular state but his movement still wields considerable influence within the status apparatus in Turkey including the police and the judiciary.
Highlighting the friction, former international football player Hakan Sukur announced Monday he was resigning from the AKP.
Sukur, who was elected MP for Istanbul in 2011, has voiced objections to the plans to shut down the schools run by Gulen’s movement Hizmet.
The ex-footballer, who is known to be closely affiliated with the Gulen movement, was the second AKP to quit in just a few weeks.
“The AKP has put its signature to many important successes and reforms over the past 11 years, but the senseless attitude adopted since the dershane (Gulen schools) issue broke out has offended many conscientious people,” Sukur said.
AKP lawmaker Idris Bal resigned on November 30 after his party threatened disciplinary action for views contrary to government policies.
Hizmet, which describes itself as a global social and cultural movement inspired by Islamic ideals, is active in education with around 4,000 private schools in Turkey as well as more than 500 around the world.
The movement risks losing millions of dollars in revenue if the government succeeds in closing the Turkish establishments, which offer extra education to prepare students for high school or university.
Erdogan’s government last month lodged a criminal complaint against liberal newspaper Taraf after it revealed documents allegedly detailing secret plans to eliminate the Gulen network, accusing the reporter of being a “traitor”.