Brussels, 08/01/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 8 January, the European Commission expressed its “concern” at the crisis in Turkey and requested a “transparent and impartial” investigation into the accusations of corruption against the team of Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayip Erdogan (see EUROPE 10990).
“The recent developments in Turkey are a subject of concern for the European Commission” said Olivier Bailly, a spokesperson from the Commission, calling for a “transparent and impartial” investigation into the allegations of corruption against some Turkish leaders. “We call for Turkey (…) to take all the necessary measures” in this direction, he added, recalling that as a candidate to join the EU, Turkey is committed “to respecting the EU accession criteria, including respect for the rule of law”.
Earlier, on 27 December, Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy Stefan Füle expressed his “concern” about the Islamo-Conservative Turkish government's riposte to its being party to corruption. Füle believed that “the changes operated in the judicial police have undermined the independence and impartiality of the investigations”.
Nevertheless, the team in power has since carried out purges in the judicial system and police, with the dismissal of 350 police officers in Ankara, Bailly stated. “These developments could weaken the ability of the judicial system and the police to investigate independently”, he said.
The Turkish government justifies this clean-up by alleged exploitation by the opposition and foreign interests of the wide-ranging anti-corruption investigation threatening it.
The clean-up continued on Wednesday when Turkey's Minister of the Interior Efkan Ala signed a new order dismissing 16 high-level police officers, which - according to Turkish press - brings to the number of senior or ordinary police officers who have been dismissed from their jobs since mid-December to over 700.
At the same time, one of the main prosecutors in Istanbul tasked with the investigation, Zekeriya Öz, has been removed and placed on non-active status, the media report. (LC/transl.fl)