Three former ministers now under investigation
THREE former ministers are under official investigation, Prime Minister Tufan Erhürman confirmed — days after he declared that a clampdown on cronyism and curbs on new citizenships would be among his government’s top priorities.
A report by the Money Exchange Office into allegations levelled against former prime minister Hüseyin Özgürgün has been passed to the Attorney-General’s Office, where an investigation has been launched, Dr Erhürman said.
Meanwhile claims of irregularities in relation to Ercan airport, where a 300million-euro upgrade is under way, are also being investigated against former transport minister Kemal Dürüst and ex-foreign minister Tahsin Ertuğruloğlu.
Both Mr Dürüst and Mr Ertuğruloğlu lost their parliamentary immunity when they failed to hold on to their seats in January’s general election.
The trio’s names were among 48 files of probes into alleged wrongdoing revealed by Dr Erhürman at his weekly press conference last Friday.
The Premier reiterated the coalition’s determination to fight corruption, and said he had requested, and been handed, files on various allegations during a meeting with the Attorney-General and the chief of police.
He said some investigations were continuing, while others had been completed, some sent to the AttorneyGeneral for his opinion and some closed after no evidence of criminality had been found.
One investigation relates to the previous government’s printing of 31,450TL-worth of official stationery bearing an “illegal” emblem.
“This is an . . . expenditure clearly in violation of the law, over which necessary moves will be made,” said the Premier.
Dr Erhürman said the public would be kept informed about continuing investigations — and any new ones — regardless of who was in power at the time.
Most of the probes were said to have been initiated during or after 2010 during İrsen Küçük’s premiership, and related to the years pre2009 when the Republican Turkish Party (CTP) — now one of the four coalition partners — was in power.