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Article Scan – The end of “unshakable” AKP myth

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The end of “unshakable” AKP myth (by Cihan Çelik)

For the last couple of days, the codes and rules, which have been turned upside-down by Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), have become hard to keep up with since the AKP was forced to fight a self-created “monster.”

The AKP, which has been facing the direst showdown over a corruption scandal with its ally-turned-foe the Hizmet (Service) movement, led by self-exiled Islamist preacher Fethullah Gülen, has found itself in a fight with not only Gülen’s “state within a state” but also itself, as well.

It had already lost four lawmakers, two of whom were also former ministers in AKP governments, since the launch of the graft case and moreover, the rules it brought to the game have become its main source of troubles in perhaps its survival fight. The ongoing judiciary deadlock over the corruption investigation into high-profile names, including sons of three former ministers, was the direct result of AKP efforts to alter the rules.

MORE: http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/the-end-of-unshakable-akp-myth.aspx?pageID=449&nID=60249&NewsCatID=470

How long can Erdoğan resist? (by Mümtazer Türköne)

Accusations are very serious. Given the fact that prosecutors were prevented from conducting a second phase of the graft probe, the growing suspicion is that there is an organized bribery network nested within the government and that the ringleader is Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

The allegations in the graft probe imply that the state machinery is run upon the prime minister’s instructions, which are in turn influenced by bribes, and that this applies to the entire system. It is impossible to gloss over these claims as a conspiracy devised by the judiciary. This is because the accusations voiced within the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), such as those by the environment and urban planning minister who recently resigned from office, lend credence to these claims. “All changes to the urban development plans were made as ordered by the prime minister,” the environment minister said in reference to the corruption claims.

MORE: http://www.todayszaman.com/columnist/mumtazer-turkone_335120_how-long-can-erdogan-resist.html

Irrationality rules (JOOST LAGENDIJK)

It is almost impossible to keep up with the hallucinatory speed of all the twists and turns in the corruption scandal that has dominated the agenda in Turkey for 10 days now.

As I’m aware of the fact that this article will only be published two days after its writing, I will try to keep some distance from the avalanche of breaking news that is constantly and mercilessly sweeping down on everybody at home and abroad who is trying to make sense of what is happening in Turkey these days.

Having been in the Netherlands for Christmas, my observations are based on, among other things, the many questions I got from journalists and others interested in the dazzling developments in Turkey. Many of them, and this also applies to other Europeans, don’t know the details of the corruption allegations and most have, for instance, no clue what the Gülen movement is and how it relates to the Justice and Development Party (AKP). What they do know is how the Dutch government would — or according to them should — react if a similar crisis arose in the Netherlands. Their curiosity and, often, concern about the current state of affairs in Turkey is therefore based on the yawning gap between the way a comparable emergency would be handled in the Netherlands and the way the present sequence of events is being handled in Turkey.

MORE: http://www.todayszaman.com/columnist/joost-lagendijk_335118_irrationality-rules.html

Erdogan criticizes, undermines huge corruption investigation (Orhan Kemal Cengiz)

One of Turkey’s largest-ever corruption investigations is underway. A public bank CEO, an Iranian businessman and the sons of the freshly resigned interior and economy ministers are among the 24 suspects arrested so far, pending trial. The Iranian businessman allegedly circumvented sanctions against Iran and sent millions of dollars to the country via Halkbank by bribing the CEO as well as the ministers through their sons. The alleged bribes the ministers received through their sons are said to amount to 133 million Turkish lira (about $64.5 million).

The Turkish government has enacted a flurry of measures to thwart a massive corruption investigation, threatening fundamental norms of democracy.

The investigation file includes many other charges, including money laundering, fraud in urban construction works and the provision of Turkish citizenship to foreigners in return for bribes.

MORE: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/12/erdogan-corruption-democracy-threat-measures-probe.html

How not to measure corruption (by Emre Deliveli)

It is rumored that a “second wave” is imminent in the Turkish graft saga. The new investigations are reported to be about deals worth more than $100 billion, involving some of the largest firms in Turkey as well as Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s two sons.

As an economist, I cannot help but wonder if there is any way to red-flag corruption before it hits the prosecutors’ radars. The whistleblower who exposed Fatih Municipality gathered plenty of evidence, which he duly turned over to the district attorney, but what I have in mind is a methodology that would flash early warning signs for corruption at the country level, without hoping for brave souls like him.

It is not easy to identify and measure corruption, but defining it is even more challenging. As United Nations Development Program’s “A User’s Guide to Measuring Corruption” notes, “the term has been applied to such a wide variety of beliefs and practices that pinning down the concept is difficult.”

MORE: http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/how-not-to-measure-corruption.aspx?pageID=449&nID=60184&NewsCatID=430

28.12.2013

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