Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan faces the most serious challenge to his political career since he came to office 11 years ago as a high-level ongoing investigation into corruption allegations has claimed three political casualties so far... The Turkish government of Recep Tayyip Erdogan was stunned on December 17 by the arrest of 24 people in suspicion of state corruption. Among those arrested were three sons of ministers as well as well-known construction businessmen with close ties to the government and Erdogan himself. After mounting pressure from opposition and critics of the government, the three ministers whose sons were involved in the corruption probe resigned on December 25. However, one of the ministers went on the offensive when he called on Erdogan to follow suit. "For the sake of the well-being of this nation and country, I believe the prime minister should resign too," former Environment and Urban Planning Minister Erdogan Bayraktar said at a live broadcast on Turkish private channel NTV. Bayraktar added that the prime minister had full knowledge of the construction plans and contracts under investigation. But, this is not the first time that Bayraktar faced corruption allegations. Back in November 2012, Bayraktar admitted during a parliamentary hearing that contracts awarded under his watch as the head of the Housing Development Administration of Turkey (TOKI) were erroneous. "We were weak, we should have seen as administrators what was going on. ... Whoever is guilty, they should be punished, me included," he told the parliament. Bayrakatar was an active minister at the time and continued serving in his previous post despite the smoking gun. The resignations were followed by a major cabinet reshuffle that Erdogan presented to President Abdullah Gul. The new lineup, which was approved by Gul on December 25, included 10 new ministers. The European Union affairs Minister Egemen Bagis was conspicuous by his removal from the new cabinet amid media reports about him being implicated in the growing political scandal.
Since the first day of the arrests, the government has replaced more than 500 police chiefs and officers across the country. The move is seen as retaliation against senior police officers who are believed to be members of the Gulen movement, which was dismissed by the premier himself as a ‘religious gang'. Observers say that the embattled prime minister implicitly accused the movement of being behind what he called an ‘outside conspiracy' to topple his government. The movement's leader Fethullah Gulen lives in the United States as his self-imposed exile. Also, following the arrests, the government issued an immediate edict that would require the police establishment to inform the appropriate government officials of any investigations in advance, a measure dismissed by critics as a blow to the independence of both the police and the judiciary. The new regulation is seen as a blow to judicial independence and separation of power. Erdogan has further charged that ‘some judges are members or criminal gangs seeking to destabilize Turkey'. As a result of these government attempts to control the crisis and limit the "Gulenists" reach, police forces refused to carry out a second wave of arrests ordered by prosecutor Muammer Akkas. The arrests warrants were believed to include names that would implicate the prime minister's son. Consequently, prosecutor Akkas issued a written statement on December 26 where he said that the government was obstructing an ongoing investigation and thus undermining the independence of the country's judiciary. "Court orders have not been carried out and there has been open pressure on the judicial process from both the chief prosecutor's office and from the police force, which is supposed to carry out the such orders," Akkas said in the statement. The fast developing scandal is taking its toll on the Turkish economy. The Turkish Lira was at a record-low against the dollar and the Euro. Turkey's main stock index also fell up to 4.2 percent on December 25. Politically, the world is watching closely as the scandal unfolds in what is dubbed as "the democracy model in the Middle East". European Union representatives expressed harsh statements amid Erdogan's defiant rhetoric and his government's handling of the crisis. Hannes Swoboda, Member of the European Parliament, tweeted on December 25: "Erdogan after resignations is in trouble. Perhaps Turkey needs a new prime minister: less autocratic and more ready for dialogue." Relations with the United States are also marred by Erdogan's hint at the potential expulsion of the US Ambassador Francis Ricciardone for ‘interfering in Turkey's internal affairs.' "These recent days, very strangely, ambassadors get involved in some provocative acts. I am calling on them: Do your jobs, if you leave your area of duty; this could extend into our government's area of jurisdiction. We do not have to keep you in our country," Erdogan told supporters in the Black Sea province. The harsh statement came after Turkish newspaper, Yeni Safak, ran a report citing the US envoy as telling EU ambassadors in a meeting following the latest arrests that US "requested the end of the financial ties of Halkbank with Iran. But they didn't listen. You are watching the collapse of an empire [Turkey]". The chief executive of the state-owned Halkbank has been arrested in connection with the sweeping graft investigation. "That's the norm of most Middle Eastern countries," Pinar Tremblay, a doctoral candidate in political science at University of California, Los Angeles, and an adjunct faculty member at California State Polytechnic University, told IslamistGate. "Doublespeak, vague but harsh comments on fake or made-up news to distract the public," she commented on Erdogan's indirect criticism of the US envoy. Tremblay argued that this alone would not hurt Turkey-US relations. However, she warned that "the (ruling) AKP is losing respect in the West after Gezi (the anti-government protests in June) plus huge scale of corruption won't help." She said the AKP should put its financial dealings and contracts under transparent scrutiny. "There is no (financial) oversight. This is the crux. How can they be legitimate if they can't be audited?" Erdogan's position as Turkey's ultimate leader is facing an escalating pressure from within his own party as well. A crack is taking place and widening rapidly as prominent deputies and members of the party are resigning and getting expelled over the corruption and bribery scandal. The party referred three deputies to a disciplinary committee for a possible expulsion from the party after they criticized the government over the graft allegations. Also, three deputies have resigned from the party. AKP İzmir deputy Ertuğrul Günay, a well-known figure within the party who served as Culture and Tourism Minister, announced that he had resigned from the party in protest at the lack of transparency within the AKP. Another prominent member, Izmir deputy Erdal Kalkan, has also stepped down, denouncing Erdogan's governing style. "People are not fools," referring to pro-government media outlets that argue that the probe was baseless but rather a plot against the government. "He (Erdogan) is already pursuing his options, - control or limit the probe, shift public focus or perception, to improve his chances in the upcoming local elections," said Kalkan. Ziya Meral, a writer, researcher and academic, told IslamistGate that the scandal might have little effect on votes in elections planned for March 2014. "This is AKP at its most vulnerable status, yet local elections are unlikely to show a major drop in votes." Observers are arguing that Erdogan's only hope to overcome the current crisis is to announce early elections. So far, one party, the recently formed Peoples' Democracy Party (HDP), has called for early parliamentary elections.
