The Undoing of the Erdogan Regime

Cover of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

The massive corruption scandal targeting the Turkish government reflects the ongoing strategic shift, following the defusing of the war plans against Syria, which threatened to become a superpower confrontation between the U.S and Russia. Turkey was a major player in these plans, with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Érdogan’s government and his Islamic Justice and Development Party (AKP) being part of the Anglo-Saudi Sunni alliance deployed against the President Bashar Assad. Erdogan
had turned Turkey into a conduit of weapons to the Syrian opposition, including al Qaeda-linked terror groups, all with the support of Barack Obama.

Contributed to HellasFrappe
By E.I.R. STRATEGIC ALERT
www.eir.de

Three separate corruption cases led to the arrest Dec. 17 of dozens of suspects, including the sons of three cabinet ministers. One case involves the arrest of an Iranian of Azeri birth named Reza Zarrab, who is accused of paying millions of dollars in bribes to various ministers of the Turkish government, and of laundering gold and cash for illegal oil deals with Iran.

According to one senior U.S. intelligence source, the probe  as launched more than a year ago on the basis of evidence first compiled by Russian Federal prosecutors looking into money laundering through Russian banks. That evidence was turned over to Turkish prosecutors, who launched their own investigation.

That same source said that Zarrab was part of an Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps operation linked to former President Ahmadinejad, and that the arrests and revelations will strengthen the hand of President Hassan Rouhani and others seeking to sign the P5+1 agreement.

An arrogant Erdogan then claimed his regime was targeted by a foreign plot, and moved to unconstitutionally shut down the investigation. Within a week, 650 senior police officials were transferred or dismissed, and the head of the state prosecution authority was replaced. Erdogan also reshuffled his cabinet, appointing four staunch loyalists including the new Interior Minister, who controls the police, as well as the Justice Minister.

Thereupon, the police refused to serve the prosecutor’s arrest warrants, and the prosecutor himself was dismissed from the case! This not only led to the destruction of evidence, but allowed a top suspect, the Egyptian-Saudi businessmen Yasin al Qadi, to flee the country. After the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade center, Washington designated al Qadi a financier of terrorism and put him under sanctions. According to an article in Forbes (Jan. 2008), he has extensive business activities in Turkey.

Erdogan said of him, in 2006: “I know Mr. Qadi. I believe in him as I believe in myself...” Since then, six parliamentarians of the AKP have resigned.

The party has many factions, including former nationalists and moderate Islamic currents. The upcoming series of elections on different levels could well see Erdogan fall from power.