Turkish court blocks Erdogan move to contain graft scandal

A Turkish court yesterday blocked a government attempt to force police to disclose investigations to their superiors, setting back prime minister Tayyip Erdogan’s efforts to contain the fallout from a high-level corruption scandal.

Police on December 17th detained dozens of people, among them the sons of the interior minister and two other cabinet members, after a major graft inquiry that was kept secret from their commanders who might have informed the government in advance.

The regulation that would have forced police officers to inform their superiors about investigations was announced overnight by the government, angered at having been kept in the dark about the year-long corruption inquiry.

Unprecedented crisis
The crisis is unprecedented in Mr Erdogan's three terms of office, triggering the resignation of the three ministers whose sons had been detained, a reshuffle, and the destabilising of an economy whose rapid growth has been a showpiece of the prime minister's 11-year rule.

The lira hit a record low, stocks were at their weakest in 17 months and the cost of insuring the country’s debt against default jumped to an 18-month high yesterday.

The affair turned more personal this week when Turkish media published what appeared to be a preliminary summons for Bilal Erdogan, one of the premier’s two sons, to testify, although its authenticity could not immediately be verified.

Denying wrongdoing, the Erdogan government purged some 70 of the police officers involved, including the head of the force in Istanbul, and on December 21st issued a new rule requiring police investigators to share their findings with their superiors.

The council of state, an Ankara court that adjudicates on administrative issues, blocked implementation of the regulation, ruling that it “contradicts the principle of the separation of powers”.

With his party aswirl in speculation Mr Erdogan might call early general elections next year. He urged supporters to vote in a local ballot in March, as part of a “war” on what he deems a foreign-orchestrated plot cloaked as criminal proceedings.

In a speech in Zakaria province, a heartland of his Islamist-rooted AK party, Mr Erdogan likened ballots to bullets.

“You, with your votes, will foil this evil plot,” he said. “Are you committed to establishing a new Turkey? Are you ready for Turkey’s new independence war?” The prime minister was referring to local elections three months away, in which some disappointed AKP faithful might abandon the party.

AKP controls two-thirds of parliament and pollsters see a modest blow to the party’s base but say it could spiral if the scandal gets worse. One AKP official predicted that Mr Erdogan could bring forward the scheduled 2015 general election to arrest such a slide.

Lawmakers step down
In another dent to the party's prestige, three of its lawmakers stepped down yesterday. One, Ertugrul Gunay, complained of a "domineering and arrogant attitude" in AKP.

Among Mr Erdogan’s past feats was pruning the power of the military – once the country’s dominant authority and guardian of its secularist constitution – by championing the prosecution of scores of senior officers on putsch and terrorism allegations.

In an implied rebuke to Mr Erdogan, the military said yesterday it had respected judiciary independence at the time.

“The legal proceedings regarding Turkish armed forces personnel were observed in accordance with the duties and responsibilities laid out in the law,” the chief of staff said.

The government’s attempts to impose new regulations on the police rile Turks who see an authoritarian streak in Mr Erdogan and flooded the streets in mass protests this year.

– (Reuters)