17 Bureaucrats Summoned To Court On Charges Of Irregularities

The Court of Accounts has summoned 17 bureaucrats from different public institutions to give their full addresses and defend themselves in the court regarding investigations into financial irregularities in the operations of their institutions.

The summons follow the failure of the court to reach the bureaucrats at their registered addresses.

The summons were published in an announcement in the Official Gazette on Tuesday. It stated the court had been unable to reach the bureaucrats, who are accused of damaging public interest financially by abusing their positions, and called on the bureaucrats to give their full addresses to the court within 15 days of the announcement.

According to media reports on Wednesday, inspections carried out by the court have revealed irregularities in the financial transactions of the institutions in 2012 and 2013. Among the institutions where the court detected irregularities are the Kahramanmaraş Municipality, the Şanlıurfa Municipality, the Elazığ Municipality, the General Directorate of Credit and Dormitories Agency (KYK) and the Directorate General for Highways (KGM).

The former mayor of the Elazığ Municipality, M. Süleyman Selmanoğlu, was also called upon to defend himself in court via the same announcement. Selmanoğlu had been previously sentenced to prison in a corruption investigation for which he was implicated in bid rigging and other related charges.

The bureaucrats whose names are listed in the announcement are as follows: Halil Rüştü Akgün from the İstanbul Special Provincial Administration; A. Edip İşçeviren and Şaban Hidayetoğlu from the KGM; Seyfullah Güner from the KYK; Lütfiye Çağlayurt from Antalya's Muratpaşa Municipality; M. Süleyman Selmanoğlu from Elazığ Municipality; Fuat Kabakulak from the Elazığ Special Provincial Administration; Mustafa Özel, Hülya Özdemir, Aslıhan Küpeli, Atilla Hışır, Cemalettin İnce and Benian Erkaplan from the Kahramanmaraş Municipality; İbrahim Burç from the Şanlıurfa Municipality; Aziz Coşkun from the Şanlıurfa Special Provincial Administration; İ. İnci Gültekin and Fatma Koçman from the İstanbul Social Services and Child Protection Agency (SHÇEK).

The Court of Accounts has a legal mandate to review the expenditures of government institutions and to ensure compliance with the rules and regulations regarding budgets approved by Parliament.

(Cihan/Today's Zaman)