Key corruption probe targeting President Erdoğan’s son dismissed

ISTANBUL

Erdoğan has repeatedly denounced the probes as plots orchestrated by a 'parallel state' to overthrow the government. AFP Photo

The Istanbul Chief Prosecutor’s Office has ruled that there are no legal grounds for the prosecution of 96 suspects, including President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s son Bilal Erdoğan, who were accused by prosecutors of bribery and corruption in the Dec. 25 investigation.

“By naming the Prime Minister of the Republic of Turkey as the leader of an [illegal] organization and labeling him ‘then-prime minister’ in the summary of proceedings, those who prepared the investigation showed that they attempted to remove the government by force or prevent it from doing its duties completely or partly, under the disguise of a legal probe,” prosecutors İsmail Uçar, İrfan Fidan and Fuzuli Aydoğan said in the non-prosecution verdict on Sept. 1.

Erdoğan has long accused followers of U.S.-based Muslim scholar Fethullah Gülen of establishing a “parallel state” by using its sway in Turkey’s police and the judiciary, arguing that it fabricated the vast corruption scandal.

Earlier on Sept. 1, arrest warrants were issued for 33 police officers, including 14 high-ranking officers, in the third wave of arrests reportedly targeting the Gülen-affiliated officials. A number of the detained police officers were involved in the corruption probes launched in December 2013 that targeted governmental figures.

Back in June, Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ took the initiative to launch an investigation into a prosecutor and three judges who had issued court orders for the arrest and asset freezing of suspects in the Dec. 17 and Dec. 25 investigations.