The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), which has a majority in the Turkish parliament, on March 19 rejected the opposition’s request to discuss the details of the indictments targeting four former cabinet ministers in a corruption case. The hours-long extraordinary session of parliament, which could have opened the way for the four to stand trial, instead ended with an acknowledgment of the AKP’s request to form an investigative commission into the allegations at a time to be determined later.
Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag accused the opposition of having ulterior motives: “This debate started on Dec. 17. It has been three months since then. Why haven’t you asked for any inquiry until now?” Bozdag asked. “You did not need an indictment to open this issue to discussion in parliament. The news reports were enough. But you are using this issue to score points in the upcoming March 30 election.”
