EP Pushes For Independent Investigation Into Dec. 17 Allegations

The European Parliament's (EP) newly appointed Turkey rapporteur, Kati Piri, has said that an independent investigation has yet to be conducted into a graft probe that went public on Dec. 17 and that until an independent investigation takes place, she will continue to raise this issue with Turkish officials.

The major corruption and bribery operation went public on Dec. 17, 2013 and implicated a number of ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) members, ministers and their relatives. Following the graft probe, three ministers resigned, while another minister was expelled from the Cabinet. They were accused of receiving bribes and other irregularities.

When asked whether the Dec. 17 corruption allegations had been properly investigated, Piri said: “We haven't yet seen this independent investigation take place. So, as long as this investigation is not being carried out, I will continue to raise the issue.”

The Dutch socialist Piri was also asked about the Turkish government's claim that there was no corruption but that rather the probe was an attempted coup d'etat by the faith-based Hizmet movement. She responded that these sorts of allegations would have been thoroughly investigated in a truly democratic country where the rule of law prevailed.

“I have to say, whenever there are allegations in a strong democracy with strong rule of law, these allegations need to be investigated. That is also why the EU Commission has asked that the allegations be independently investigated. That is also something I will continue to raise in my talks with the Turkish government,” Piri said, speaking with Today's Zaman Brussels representative Selçuk Gültaşlı on “Avrupa Masası” (Europe Desk), a TV program that airs on Samanyolu Haber.

The AK Party has been at odds with Hizmet, especially since Dec. 17, 2013, when the major graft operation implicating senior government members went public. Several government officials and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan claim the operation was orchestrated by the Hizmet movement with the motive of overthrowing the AK Party government. They have not provided any evidence to prove their claim, and the movement denies the accusation.

Since Dec. 17, the government has been waging a war not only on individuals who are linked to Hizmet but also on Hizmet-affiliated institutions. More than 40,000 police officers, civil servants, judges and prosecutors have been reassigned for no official reason other than having suspected links to the Hizmet movement. Critics have described the arbitrary reassignments as a “witch hunt.”

Piri also said that her focus would not be to determine whether there is a “parallel state” or not, but rather to carefully look into the state of fundamental freedoms and rights. She said she would strictly scrutinize the state of the independence of the judiciary, media freedom and the rule of law rather than judge whether or not a parallel state exists.

According to Piri: “As rapporteur of [the EP] I won't be asked to investigate or to make a judgment whether there is or isn't a parallel state in Turkey. But I will judge very strictly according to the clear criteria whether there is independence of the judiciary and media freedom. All the issues we are discussing here, the EU has very clear criteria set out for these values. My report will be based on those criteria.”

Media freedoms to be main focus

Kati Piri also promised that media freedoms will be one of her main focal points.

Stressing that the state of media freedoms is a measure how democratic a country is, Piri said the EP has always been very sensitive on the issue.

“I will pay special attention to the issue of freedom of media and expression during my visit to Turkey next month,” she added.

Piri is expected to pay a visit to Turkey in December to meet with Turkish officials.

She stressed that all official media events should be open to all media outlets without discriminating against any media outlets.

The government has started to impose an unofficial media ban on certain media outlets, including the Zaman and Today's Zaman dailies, the private Cihan news agency and Samanyolu television.

Piri is the first socialist Turkey rapporteur of the EP in 15 years. With Piri's appointment, a tradition of Dutch rapporteurs has continued. The last three rapporteurs preceding Piri were Arie Oostlander, Camiel Eurlings and Ria Oomen-Ruijten, all Dutch members of the EP.

When asked about the attention of the Western media on the new presidential palace in Ankara, Piri said it seemed like lot of money had been spent on the project. She added that Dutch politicians probably would not be the best people to ask about the correlation between the palace of statesmen and the prestige of the country.

Piri said the Dutch prime minister and many other ministers occasionally ride bicycles to their offices. “There are occasions where you can see our politicians, including the prime minister and ministers, coming to work on a bike. So perhaps this question is not so much for a Dutch politician,” she said.

(Cihan/Today's Zaman)