Turkey has removed a number of prosecutors from a corruption probe targeting the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors said on Thursday that it has reassigned 20 prosecutors.
Among those removed is Istanbul's chief prosecutor, Turhan Colakkadi, who was overseeing the corruption investigation.
The board has also approved a probe into several top prosecutors who led the graft inquiry and have already been removed from their positions.
The announcement comes after Erdogan offered compromise over his plans to curb the judiciary’s powers, and give the Justice Ministry more authority over appointing judges and prosecutors.
Muharrem Yilmaz, the head of the Turkish Industry and Business Association, said that Turkey is becoming a police state.
"We are facing a heavy agenda in which the judiciary has become the battlefield of a political struggle," Yilmaz said at a conference this week.
"A state that doesn't abide by its own rules cannot be described as a state of law, not even as a state with laws. It can only be described as a police state," he said.
On December 25, 2013, the Turkish premier replaced the economy, interior, and environment ministers, whose sons have all been arrested as part of investigations into the spiraling corruption scandal.
Erdogan denounced the probe as a plot to undermine his government ahead of the local elections in March, adding that the graft allegations against businesspersons and government officials are hindering the economic growth.
In a speech in Istanbul on January 4, Erdogan said the corruption scandal was cover for an assassination attempt. "What they wanted to do was an attempted assassination of the national will.”
“They tried to carry out a judicial coup in Turkey... But we are going to oppose this operation, this December 17 plot that targeted the future, the stability of our country," he noted.
Thursday, January 16, 2014
Turkey removes top prosecutors probing corruption
Turkey has removed a number of prosecutors from a corruption probe targeting the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors said on Thursday that it has reassigned 20 prosecutors.
Among those removed is Istanbul's chief prosecutor, Turhan Colakkadi, who was overseeing the corruption investigation.
The board has also approved a probe into several top prosecutors who led the graft inquiry and have already been removed from their positions.
The announcement comes after Erdogan offered compromise over his plans to curb the judiciary’s powers, and give the Justice Ministry more authority over appointing judges and prosecutors.
Muharrem Yilmaz, the head of the Turkish Industry and Business Association, said that Turkey is becoming a police state.
"We are facing a heavy agenda in which the judiciary has become the battlefield of a political struggle," Yilmaz said at a conference this week.
"A state that doesn't abide by its own rules cannot be described as a state of law, not even as a state with laws. It can only be described as a police state," he said.
On December 25, 2013, the Turkish premier replaced the economy, interior, and environment ministers, whose sons have all been arrested as part of investigations into the spiraling corruption scandal.
Erdogan denounced the probe as a plot to undermine his government ahead of the local elections in March, adding that the graft allegations against businesspersons and government officials are hindering the economic growth.
In a speech in Istanbul on January 4, Erdogan said the corruption scandal was cover for an assassination attempt. "What they wanted to do was an attempted assassination of the national will.”
“They tried to carry out a judicial coup in Turkey... But we are going to oppose this operation, this December 17 plot that targeted the future, the stability of our country," he noted.
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