Source: Yahoo News
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Turkish
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday hit back at critics who
have alleged that he has been stalling a corruption investigation
reaching his family, while a lawyer says the leader's son was ready to
give testimony to prosecutors.
Erdogan last
month dismissed four government ministers implicated in a vast
corruption and bribery scandal surrounding alleged illicit money
transfers to Iran and bribery for construction projects. He then quickly
moved to replace police officials involved in the investigation, an
action which news reports said thwarted a second corruption probe that
sought to question his son, Bilal Erdogan, among others. Police
allegedly refused to bring Erdogan's son for questioning on prosecutors'
orders.
Erdogan insists the
corruption investigation targeting people close to him has been
orchestrated by an Islamic movement led by U.S.-based cleric Fethullah
Gulen. Erdogan says Gulen's followers have risen to key positions in
Turkey's judiciary and police, and that they want to harm the government
ahead of local elections in March.
"If you are honest and honorable, you'll come and show the evidence," Erdogan said in a speech in Ankara on Friday, responding to opposition party accusations that the government was trying to cover up a corruption inquiry focusing on his son.
He then threatened to
reveal a corruption file on the opposition party's strong candidate for
the mayor of Istanbul in the March local elections, unless the
opposition party releases the file by Sunday.
In a more conciliatory gesture,
Erdogan said that some articles of much-criticized draft legislation —
which critics say aims to tighten government control over the judiciary —
could be put on hold. Opposition parties say the measure would allow
the government to block corruption investigations, and the European
Union expressed concerns, calling on Turkey to respect the principles of
rule of law and the separation of powers.
The
state-run Anadolu Agency quoted lawyer Ahmet Ozel as saying late
Thursday that 33-year old Bilal Erdogan was prepared to give testimony
but he had not received any papers summoning him to testify.
"My client is ready to go and testify to prosecutors upon reception of an official notification," Anadolu quoted Ozel as saying.
The
statement came following a brawl in parliament where opposition
legislators accused the prime minister of obstructing the investigation
and of "harboring" a man wanted for questioning. An opposition deputy
was briefly hospitalized after being punched by a legislator from
Erdogan's party.
Erdogan on
Friday refused to apologize to the opposition legislator who was hurt in
the scuffles in Parliament, saying opposition deputies had provoked the
fight by insulting him and his family.
"Whoever insulted me and my family to such an extent should apologize first," Erdogan said.
Turkish
newspapers last month published details of an allegedly leaked
prosecutors' summons calling Bilal Erdogan to give testimony as a
"suspect" in an investigation into an alleged organized crime syndicate.
Newspaper reports said the investigation allegedly surrounds
irregularities in the operations of an educational foundation whose
board members include Bilal Erdogan.
The prosecutor who issued the
summons complained that police officers had not carried out his orders
for arrests and accused the Istanbul chief prosecutor and police of
hampering the probe. He was later removed from the case.
The
corruption scandal and Erdogan's response has eroded investor
confidence, causing the Turkish lira to plummet to almost daily record
lows. Turkey's central bank announced Thursday that it was intervening
in the foreign exchange markets but failed to stop the lira's slide.
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