A massive corruption probe has been rattling Turkey since Dec. 17 when prosecutors moved to make the first arrests. By now, the government has dismissed all the prosecutors who initiated the probe, along with all police officers who did the investigating. Hundreds of other prosecutors and judges and thousands of police have lost their original posts in a nationwide reshuffle. Laws and regulations have been amended. A media blackout has been imposed on the probe. The justice minister has sent back prosecution reports incriminating ministers, instead of passing them to parliament for further action. In short, the probe has been blocked.
Yet, documents from the investigation files continue to leak out. Wiretaps end up in the media on a daily basis. Opposition leaders have laid hands on the prosecution reports the justice minister returned, trumpeting their content from parliamentary rostrums.