Is the AKP shielding former ministers from corruption charges?
A Turkish parliamentary inquiry commission has decided not to put former government ministers on trial for corruption.
A parliamentary inquiry commission decided on Jan. 5 not to send four former ministers from Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) to the Supreme Council to stand trial for a corruption case involving millions of dollars.
The decision was based on the unanimous votes of the nine AKP members of the 14-member interparty commission, and flew in the face of strong evidence, which some AKP deputies have also said required that the former ministers stand trial, if only to clear their names.
The highly controversial decision is seen by the opposition — and a large number of Turks — as a political cover-up to protect President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was prime minister when the corruption scandal erupted.
With an army of journalists waiting outside the commission room, and the nation glued to television sets, the question was not so much whether the commission’s decision would favor the former ministers, but whether some of its AKP members would prefer justice over politics. Politics, however, won out as expected.
