No arrest warrant for Turkish PM’s son, justice minister says

ANKARA – Anadolu Agency

The government stopped a second wave of the corruption operation that reportedly implicated Erdoğan’s son, Bilal Erdoğan. AA Photo

There is no arrest warrant for Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s son, Bilal Erdoğan, Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ said Jan. 16 during parliamentary justice commission talks.

After some deputies from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) asked the reason why an arrest warrant for Bilal Erdoğan had been revoked, Bozdağ said there had never been any warrant in the first place.

“I’d like to state that there is no arrest warrant or order to detain for Mr. Bilal Erdoğan. It is not possible to revoke a nonexistent decision. The claims that he left the country or is hiding do not reflect reality.

These are all media reports published to harm our government and prime minister,” said Bozdağ, responding to the CHP deputies.

Istanbul prosecutors launched a massive corruption and graft operation on Dec. 17, 2013, that resulted in the resignation of four ministers from Erdoğan’s government. The government stopped another wave of the corruption operation that reportedly implicated Erdoğan’s son, Bilal Erdoğan. The government accused the Fethullah Gülen community, known as the Hizmet Movement, of orchestrating the operation and launched a massive struggle to liquidate its sympathizers from the civil service.