Cyprus-Forum.com

[Flying Horse]

Sour Grapes and a ploy to undermine the arrests of this investigation?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-25428565

One should never mix politics and religion anyway....

secular Turks are delighted that religious conservatives are tearing at each other

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-12-1 ... igion.html

[Demonax]

Let's be clear – sacking the police chiefs responsible for investigating ministers for corruption proves that Turkey is NOT a Banana Republic:

Two assistants of Istanbul Police Chief Hüseyin Çapkın and four assistant chiefs, including chiefs involved in the execution of a corruption operation targeting high-profile figures, were dismissed from their posts Dec. 18.

The two assistants of Çapkın dismissed were Deputy Police Chief Mahir Çakallı, from the Organized Crimes Bureau and Deputy Police Chief Hamza Tosun, from the Financial Crimes Bureau.

Two deputy chiefs at the Organized Crime Bureau, Şenol Demir and Ahmet Kalender, as well as two deputy chiefs of Financial Crimes, Yasin Topçu and Kazım Aksoy, were also dismissed from their posts.

The dismissal of six police chief deputies came after five police commissioners in the Istanbul police department, were discharged from their offices earlier in the morning.

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/five-p ... sCatID=341

[bill cobbett]

For those who wish to better understand the Erdogan-Gulen split in Turkey's ruling AKP...

James Reynold of BBC News puts it briefly and well...

"... A decade ago, Recep Tayyip Erdogan changed Turkish politics by putting together an unofficial alliance of business leaders, the working class and the religious. This alliance included members of an influential, well-organised Islamic social movement led by the exiled scholar Fethullah Gulen.

This wide base of support won Mr Erdogan three general elections. It allowed him to survive two weeks of popular, but unorganised protest in June. But in recent weeks, Mr Erdogan has alienated one crucial element of his alliance - the Gulen movement. In return, many here believe that Mr Gulen's supporters in the judiciary and the police have gone after the prime minister's allies on corruption charges.

This struggle may pose a threat to Mr Erdogan's undeclared ambition to run for president in 2014..."

[Get Real!]

This struggle may pose a threat to Mr Erdogan's undeclared ambition to run for president in 2014..."[/i]

I reckon he's gonna pull a fast one again and the shit is gonna hit the fan in Turkey sometime mid year!

[bill cobbett]

This struggle may pose a threat to Mr Erdogan's undeclared ambition to run for president in 2014..."[/i]

I reckon he's gonna pull a fast one again and the shit is gonna hit the fan in Turkey sometime mid year!

Yes, he has already started to pull a fast-one... with news that investigators in to the corruption have been sacked. ... which will just add to the amount of shit hitting the fan.

[bill cobbett]

Details of the prosecutors removed from office in this anti-corruption scandal from Zaman...

"...19:30 - Authorities remove 18 more police chiefs for ‘misconduct’

After removing 11 police chiefs from their posts in İstanbul for carrying out corruption raids that authorities say constitute a “misconduct,” Ankara governor also removed 18 police chiefs in a similar fashion and reappointed them to “ineffective” positions.

Chief of organized crime unit Osman Şamil Kaya, anti-smuggling unit chief Ertan Kaya, financial crime unit chief Adem Yalçınkaya are among 18 police chiefs who were removed from their posts.

The decision was taken after Ankara Police Chief Kadir Ay held a meeting with police commissioners. The police chiefs were removed for not informing their superiors and using their duty for “ill-intentions...."

... and the Turkish news-site Radikal has released pickies of huge sums of cash found at the home of the son of a Turkish Minister...

[repulsewarrior]

...it saddens me, because i do believe that the Turkish people have a vital and creative society, that, as we can see is at odds with the elite who have with their sense of entitlement, a corruption that is now rank. good for the Turks, i say, if they say, enough with the "Turks"; where Erdogan has gained, (becoming the deep state), may well be destroyed (now) with his departure.

[Tim Drayton]

An order has been obtained from Istanbul Penal Court of the Peace No 18 to seize the entire assets of quite a few of those arrested. Based on past form, this type of Cemaat-led operation will continue to snowball.

http://www.radikal.com.tr/turkiye/tum_m ... du-1166945

[Tim Drayton]

Some comments made by Turkish Prime-Minister Erdoğan about the latest anti-corruption operation (which essentially targets his party) while answering questions at a press conference held jointly with Hungarian Prime-Minster Victor Orban:

Gezi’yle başlayan bir süreç oldu, şimdi yeni bir adım attılar.
This was a process that started with Gezi and now they have taken a fresh step.

14 ay dinleme izleme yapılıyorsa, bu konuda kendi üs[t]lerine bunlar haber vermiyorsa, buradaki mühendislik yolsuzlukla ilgili değil, siyasi mühendisliktir. Bu da bir nevi çetedir.
If bugging and monitoring is conducted for 14 months and they do not report this matter to their superiors, this engineering has nothing to do with corruption, it is political engineering. This also is a kind of gang.

Valilerimizin şu anda görevi kötüye kullanma anlayışından hareketle orada kendilerinin bir defa bir tasarrufudur. Bu çok daha farklı illere sıçrayabilir.
Our provincial governors have at the moment acted on a one-time basis there [i.e. removing certain police chiefs from office in Istanbul - T.D.], acting in response to abuse of position. This may spread to very different provinces.

http://www.radikal.com.tr/turkiye/devle ... iz-1166924

[Tim Drayton]

The leader of the opposition in Turkey, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, is reported to have had lunch today with the US ambassador to Turkey:

http://www.radikal.com.tr/turkiye/kilic ... tu-1167015

The plot thickens (especially for those of use who view Fethullah Gülen as essentially being an agent of US neo-imperialism).