After the arrest of their sons during an anti-corruption sweep and bribery scandal, Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan and Interior Minister Muammer Guler gave in their resignations on Wednesday in Turkey. Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep tayyip Edrogan said the probe was targeted to smear his administration and bring down his government that has lasted more than 10 years.
Twenty-four people were arrested on bribery charges, which included the two minister’s sons along with the chief executive officer of the state-run bank Halkbank. However, Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan and Interior Minister Muammer Guler have both repudiated any wrongdoing while steeping down from their positions as cabinet ministers.
Reportedly over a million dollars was found at Guler’s son Baris’ house, while media gave reports of $4.5 million in cash was stashed inside the boxes of shoes at the home of the Halkbank’s CEO, that have been taken a hold of by the police, reports AP.
Since, Erdogan’s government has won three consecutive elections beginning in 2002 due to a moderately strong financial system and an administration that promises to fight corruption. Erdogan has condemned the current corruption probe as a scheme to prevent Turkey’s rising success and damage his administration’s image ahead of the March local elections; this he claims is the doings of foreign and Turkish forces.
However, Turkish commentators believe that the investigation is the fallout of one of Erdogan’s old allies who turned against him. The Turkish Prime Minister appears to be in an increasingly open power struggle and public feud with a former political supporter, a US-based Muslim cleric, Fethullah Gulen, whose followers are thought to be in strong positions within the Turkey’s police force and judiciary. The two men have been engaged in a war of words since the beginning of the corruption investigation on December 17; however these two men have not yet named one another.
On Tuesday, Interior Minister Muammer Guler told reporters that he is the victim a political scheme and that there is nothing his family could not account for. He also said that the cash found at his son’s house was the money that he had earned from the luxury villa that he had sold earlier.
The two ministers have been long called for resignation by the opposition, saying their sons were responsible for taking bribes on behalf of their fathers, and maintained that they should not remain in positions where they were able to influence their own investigations.
Erdogan’s government has already discharged many police officials who were involved in the investigation or thought to be linked to Gulen. Media personnel have not been allowed enter police buildings, fuelling accusations from critics that the government is trying to obstruct the probe.
The corruption investigation is one of the biggest political challenges Erdogan's government has faced, which also includes last summer's nationwide anti-government protests over a development project at an Istanbul park.
