Two Turkey Prosecutors Pulled Off Corruption Probe
Two prosecutors were removed from a corruption investigation targeting members of Turkey's elite allegedly because they summoned two business leaders to testify, media reports said Wednesday.
Chief prosecutor Hadi Salihoglu, named January 16 as the government has sought to rein in the high-profile investigation, removed prosecutors Celal Kara and Mehmet Yuzgec from the probe, the Hurriyet newspaper reported, citing judicial sources.
"They were taken out of the investigation immediately after the summons had been received," Hurriyet quoted an unnamed prosecutor as saying.
The investigation, which has unleashed the worst crisis in Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's 11-year rule, is now reduced to one prosecutor, Ekrem Aydiner.
He was appointed shortly after mid-December raids targeting public figures including top businessmen and the sons of three ministers over allegations of bribery tied to construction projects.
The investigation is also probing illicit money transfers to Iran despite sanctions against the Islamic republic.
Aydiner's appointment was seen as an attempt to stifle the corruption scandal.
Erdogan accused supporters of a rival Islamic cleric who wields considerable influence in the judiciary and police of launching the investigation as part of a "coup plot" against his government.
He has retaliated by launching a massive purge, sacking or reassigning more than 2,000 police officers as well as more than 100 prosecutors and moving to tighten controls over the judiciary.
In the latest development, 115 more prosecutors and judges in Istanbul were removed from their posts.
Source: Agence France Presse
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