Turkey’s Corruption Probe, And One Question For Erdogan


Date posted: December 25, 2013

İSMET BERKAN

A widening corruption probe has been consuming Turkey in recent days. Figures close to the leading Justice and Development Party (AKP), including sons of cabinet members, are facing serious allegations of bribery and money laundering. The government is denying all accusations and claims the charges are part of a conspiracy with roots both foreign and domestic. The operation is run by prosecutors allegedly close to the Fethullah Gulen religious movement (officially known Hizmet Movement).

The Gulen movement and the AKP used to be allies during the construction of the so-called “new Turkey” that aimed to unlock the military’s longstanding grip on political power. However, recent years produced a power struggle between the two Islam-inspired camps. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Gulen himself have been exchanging serious charges against each other, as media organs supporting each side join in the attacks.

ISTANBUL – There is one question that should be answered before all: Are the claims of corruption and bribery backed by solid evidence or not?

All the other questions can be asked after the answer to this one is certain. Instead, the Erdogan government is busy insulting the intelligence and perception of every one of us by posing a very different question it claims as the starting point in the current standoff. Are these claims of corruption and bribery a ‘political operation’ against them.

The government would turn out to be right if the evidence behind the corruption and bribery claims that have been talked about for days turn out to not be solid enough. But you have to wait and see whether these claims are true or false in order to be able to make such a claim.

The government says: ‘the operation is political…’

Of course it is. An investigation that includes four cabinet members, a key mayor from the leading party, business people known to be close to the government and bureaucrats is inevitably political; it has an immediate effect on politics. Such an operation affects politics in Turkey, as it would in Patagonia or in Micronesia.

And yet life is not about politics only; nor is politics a subject that takes precedence over everything else. If they are true, the claims of corruption and bribery should indeed influence, or even define, politics in Turkey.

The government says: ‘people who come up with these claims have a purpose…’

Of course they do. You are never surrounded only by friends when you exercise power; it is in the nature of politics that there are people who want to remove you from office. You need to be honest; even more honest than your opponents to not offer anybody that chance, even if the claims might be weak.

The government says: ‘a parallel state cannot be tolerated…’

Of course it cannot be. And yet you do not deserve to be in power if you had not realized the existence of that parallel establishment before the morning of December 17, 2013. Or, if you knew all about this establishment all along and turned a blind eye to it, then you need to get back to the end of the line to complain about it.

The government says: ‘foreign forces are behind them; they are targeting the Halk Bank, they want to prevent our trade with Iran…’

Let us say there are foreign powers actually in play. But are they the ones that brought cash to the accused’s houses; did they stack millions of dollars in shoeboxes?

The government says: ‘the cops abused their authority; they did not inform their superiors about the operation…’

Fortunately they did not. They would be committing a crime if they did. They were committing crimes up to this day by doing so anyway. The law set by this government in scope and in harmony with European Union standards dictates that the justice police work under the prosecutor, not their superior in the police department.

The government says: ‘we want the investigation to go all the way to the end…’

No, you do not. If you did, you would not remove the officers who run the investigation from duty by the order of the Interior Minister. You need to live with the public doubting the rest of the investigation; especially the part of the public that votes for you.

The government says: ‘you will see that due process will be denied to cabinet ministers’

Too late. This statement itself shows how late it is. Those ministers should have resigned within hours after their children were detained. Each passing minute reduces the probability that the alleged corruption and bribery crimes are free of politics; raising more doubts about the AKP.

Let us return to the beginning, and that single question that should be answered before all others: Are the claims of corruption and bribery solid? Are they serious?

Asking other questions before this one is an eclipse of reason. The people who ask these other questions have already seen their own reason eclipsed by other factors. If only they would not insult our intelligence.

Published on Worldcrunch, 24 December 2013, Tuesday

Source: Hizmet Movement , December 25, 2013


Related News

The Government Response to Turkey’s Coup Is an Affront to Democracy

It is vital for Washington and Turkey’s other international partners now to use all their influence to press Ankara to reverse course, to safeguards the rights of those caught up in the purge, and to strengthen rather than weaken the independence of the institutions that underpin it, including the courts, media, universities and parliament itself. The people who died defending it deserve nothing less.

Erdoğan’s harsh, xenophobic rhetoric damages fight against Islamophobia

The increasingly punitive and xenophobic discourse adopted by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in recent years has done a huge disservice to the fight against Islamophobia, dealing a blow to the decades-long efforts of organizations such as the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the Hizmet movement in international forums.

Islam’s internal enemies

Caliph Omar, who is renowned for his attention to justice, paid a visit to sacred sites after taking over control of Jerusalem from Governor Sophronius. He visited Masjid al Aqsa and later also wanted to see the Church of Resurrection where, according to Christian belief, Jesus was crucified and prepared for burial. Sophronius, who was walking with Omar, recalled that he performed prayers everywhere he visited and asked him to do the same at the church. Omar rejected the request saying, “If I perform prayer here, Muslims will build a mosque on this very spot.” Instead he found an empty area to the south of the church for prayer, upon which Muslims thereafter erected a mosque named after Omar.

Turkish ruling party’s targeting of the Gülen movement constitutes a crime against humanity

Members of the Gülen movement, also known as the Hizmet movement, have systematically and for many years now, had secret files kept on them. They have also been followed, fired from their jobs and made the targets of extreme insults and curse words.

‘We won’t stop the witch-hunt’ AKP parliamentary group deputy chair says

Speaking to reporters in Parliament on Saturday, AKP deputy Bulent Turan was responding to criticism from opposition parties accusing the AKP government of enforcing decrees during the ongoing state of emergency merely to silence dissident voices. “We won’t stop hunting [dissidents] merely because of criticism that there is witch-hunt [against dissidents],” Turan said.

“Sharing Coexistence Experiences” panel took place in Italy

“From 1990 onwards, dialogue was institutionalized and today’s Intercultural Dialogue Platform came into being, thanks to the initiatives of JWF Honorary President Fethullah Gulen. Consequently, joints projects have been carried out in cooperation with Msgr.. Marovitch from the Catholic world, who had been following the footsteps of Dubois; alongside Armenian, Jewish, Assyrian representatives.

Latest News

Fethullah Gulen – man of education, peace and dialogue – passes away

Fethullah Gülen’s Condolence Message for South African Human Rights Defender Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Hizmet Movement Declares Core Values with Unified Voice

Ankara systematically tortures supporters of Gülen movement, Kurds, Turkey Tribunal rapporteurs say

Erdogan possessed by Pharaoh, Herod, Hitler spirits?

Devious Use of International Organizations to Persecute Dissidents Abroad: The Erdogan Case

A “Controlled Coup”: Erdogan’s Contribution to the Autocrats’ Playbook

Why is Turkey’s Erdogan persecuting the Gulen movement?

Purge-victim man sent back to prison over Gulen links despite stage 4 cancer diagnosis

In Case You Missed It

The Gülen Movement: a modern expression of Turkish Islam – Interview with Hakan Yavuz

Turkish minister: I would strangle Gülen supporters wherever I see them

Turkey rolls up sleeves to reach out to needy at home, abroad on Eid al-Adha

CSOs across Turkey slam campaign under way to discredit Hizmet movement

Georgetown University in Qatar professor authors book on interfaith dialogue, Hizmet Movement

İpek Holding chairman denies reports about alleged mansion for Gülen

A Shared Struggle: Muslim and Jewish fasters break it together

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News