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Pro-AKP media flop as corruption charges swell

The pro-AKP media fail to carry a credible message to combat corruption charges.
Baris Guler (C in sunglasses), son of Turkey's Interior Minister Muammer Guler, is escorted by plainclothes police officers as he leaves a medical check-up in Istanbul December 16, 2013. Turkish police detained the sons of three cabinet ministers and several well-known businessmen as part of investigations into alleged corruption on Tuesday, state officials said, in a blow to Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan months ahead of elections. Police carried out dawn raids in the main commercial city Istanbul, detainin

Early in December, rumors surfaced of a sex tape, which allegedly involved Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s brother. None of the "marginal" news channels agreed to publish or share the recordings. A brave journalist from Odatv, Baris Pehlivan, told Al-Monitor that even though they received information, they chose not to publish it because they believe it is utterly wrong to spread news about the "private" lives of individuals. I wanted to view this as a positive step and the end of revenge politics. I was wrong. Now there is the rumor about sex tapes of 40 parliament members from the Justice and Development Party (AKP) about to be released.

On Dec. 17, however, hell broke loose in Turkey. Al-Monitor’s Turkey Pulse has provided good coverage of the current crisis involving three different cases of corruption with several prominent businessmen, sons of ministers and other high-level bureaucrats.

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