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Note from HellasFrappe - Expect Turkey -as always- to twist things around in Turkey by focusing peoples attention to a possible crisis in the Aegean with Greece and/or Cyprus. HellasFrappe will publish an article later on with plenty of juicy news on this. Stay Tuned Frappers!
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced a major cabinet reshuffle late Wednesday, replacing almost half his key ministers after three of them resigned under a huge graft scandal that is seen also threatening the premier's hold on power.
Erdogan named 10 new cabinet members, replacing the ministers for the interior, economy, environment, EU affairs, justice, transport, family, sports and industry, and the deputy prime minister, after a closed-door meeting with President Abdullah Gul.
Third Turkey minister quits over corruption probe, calls on PM to resign
Turkey's environment minister Erdogan Bayraktar stepped down on Wednesday, the third in the cabinet to resign over an anti-graft probe that has roiled the government, and called on the prime minister to follow suit.
"I am stepping down as minister and lawmaker," Erdogan Bayraktar told the private NTV television. "I believe the prime minister should also resign."The move comes shortly after Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan and Interior Minister Muammer Guler announced their resignations.
The sons of Guler and Caglayan are among the two dozen people who have been charged as part of a high-level bribery and corruption probe that has ensnared close government allies and top businessmen. They are currently in detention.
The son of Bayraktar was detained last week as part of the probe, but has not been formally charged and has been released pending trial.
Bayraktar was the sole minister to call on Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to follow suit.
"There is nothing in the investigation file that hurts me or that I cannot explain," he said.The television network cut the live broadcast after the minister's statement, a move that immediately raised a stir on Twitter, with critics slamming it as censorship.
"It's prime minister's natural right to work with or remove whichever minister he would like to," he added.
"But I don't accept any pressure to resign over an operation involving bribery and corruption. I don't accept it because a big majority of construction plans laid down and approved in the investigation dossier were carried out with the approval of the prime minister."
Police conducted raids last week and detained dozens of people suspected of numerous offences including accepting and facilitating bribes for development projects and securing construction permits for protected areas in exchange for money.
Erdogan, who has led Turkey since 2002 as the head of a conservative Islamic-leaning government, has described the probe as "a smear campaign" to undermine Turkey's ambitions to become a major political and economic power.
Two Turkish cabinet ministers quit over corruption probe, more expected to resign - reports
Turkey's economy and interior ministers resigned Wednesday, local media reported, following a high-level corruption investigation in which their sons and businessmen were arrested. The sons of both ministers are among the two dozen people who have been charged as part of a high-level bribery and corruption probe that has hit Erdogan with the biggest challenge yet to his 11 years in power.
Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan and Interior Minister Muammer Guler announced their resignations just hours after Erdogan returned from a trip abroad, expected to reshuffle his cabinet.
Erdogan, who has led Turkey since 2002 as the head of a conservative Islamic-leaning government, has described the probe as "a smear campaign" to undermine Turkey's ambitions to become a major political and economic power. He has responded to the investigation by sacking dozens of police chiefs.
"The operation, which started on December 17, is a clear setup against our government, our party [the ruling Justice and Development Party or AKP] and our country," Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan said in a statement carried by the Anadolu news agency.
Caglayan continued: "I resign from my post in order to let the truth be revealed and to undermine attempts to defame my colleagues and my son."
Interior Minister Muammer Guler told Anadolu that he had offered his resignation to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the day of the raids, but submitted it in writing Wednesday.
The environment minister's son was also implicated in the scandal, and Erdogan has been under pressure to investigate the alleged crimes amid calls from the opposition for him to step down.
Two days after the raids, for alleged bribery involving public tenders as well as illegal dealings with the Iranian government to circumvent international sanctions, Istanbul's chief of police, Huseyin Capkin, was removed from office.
The others arrested included the director of the state-owned Halkbank, a mayor belonging to Erdogan's AKP and a series of businessmen affiliated with the Turkish government.
The scandal has erupted just months ahead of Turkey's local elections on March 30 that will include a contest for the control of Turkey's largest city Istanbul and which are now being seen as a key indicator of where the political fault-lines lie throughout the country.
The stakes are high for Erdogan. Fast in the tracks of the local polls are presidential elections in August, which for the first time will be open to all voters and in which the still popular premier is expected to participate.
Turkish interior minister second to resign amid graft scandal
Turkey's interior minister resigned on Wednesday, the second in the cabinet to step down over an anti-graft probe that has roiled the government of Prime Minister Recept Tayyip Erdogan, local media reported.
The news of Muammer Guler's resignation broke just minutes after Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan said he was stepping down.
The sons of both men are among two dozen people who have been charged as part of a high-level bribery and corruption probe that has hit Erdogan with the biggest challenge yet to his 11 years in power.
Turkish economy minister steps down amid corruption scandal
Turkey's economy minister, ensnared in a vast corruption scandal that has roiled the government of Prime Minister Recept Tayyip Erdogan, resigned Wednesday.
"I am stepping down from my post as economy minister so that full light can be shed on this ignoble operation targeting our government," Zafer Caglayan said in a short statement.
Caglayan's son is one of two dozen people who have been charged as part of a high-level bribery and corruption probe that has hit Erdogan with the biggest challenge yet to his 11 years in power.
Sources - Voice of Russia, AFP, DPA, Reuters