Turkish main opposition MP applies to constitutional court for removal of gag ban

ANKARA – Doğan News Agency

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An Istanbul deputy of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) applied to the Constitutional Court on Dec. 1 over the removal of a ban on media reports about the work of the parliamentary commission on corruption.

CHP Istanbul deputy Mahmut Tanal made an individual application to the Constitutional Court on Dec. 1, after two local courts in Ankara rejected his applications for the removal of the gag ban that was put in place on Nov. 25.

Yavuz Kökten, the judge who approved the gag ban on the commission, later said he only ruled out the direct printing of testimonies from the commission and not “criticizing and commentating” on the commission’s work.

“My decision is clear and open. It is obvious what I have and have not banned. I did not put a ban on comments and criticism,” Kökten had said.

Former ministers Zafer Çağlayan, Egemen Bağış, Muammer Güler and Erdoğan Bayraktar resigned from the Cabinet after a huge graft operation in December 2013 highlighted their relations with Iranian businessman Reza Zarrab, who had allegedly paid them a number of bribes over the last few years. Along with Zarrab, former Halkbank chief executive Süleyman Aslan is among the suspects of the corruption probe.