Recip Tayyep Erdogan’s embattled government rejects EU criticism of its handling of investigation
By Richard Spencer, Middle East Correspondent
Turkey’s government, engulfed by a corruption scandal, hit out at the European Union on Sunday for “interfering”, as the crisis widened the fault lines between the country and its neighbours and former allies.
The cabinet of the prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has looked increasingly isolated by the scandal, and has accused both the United States and Gulf countries of plotting against him.
The EU left it till Friday to issue a mild statement calling for “transparency” in the investigation, which has led to the resignation of three ministers whose sons were arrested in the inquiry.
The EU commissioner for enlargement, Stefan Füle, had also praised a court decision to suspend a new cabinet order which would have changed the way the police and the judiciary handled such investigations, intended to ensure they were reported to their political masters.
Mr Erdogan was furious that the corruption investigation against his ministers had been underway for 14 months without his knowledge.
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Mr Füle said the order had “undermined the independence of the judiciary and its capacity to act”. Elmar Brok, the German MEP who heads the European parliament’s foreign affairs committee, also accused Mr Erdogan’s government of trying to influence the judiciary.
In return, Turkey’s EU Minister Mevlüt Cavusoglu, suggested the EU was suffering from “preconceived convictions” and urged it to be more “vigilant” in its comments.
The corruption investigation focuses on payments to ministers’ sons, believed to be connected to business dealings channeled through the state-owned Halkbank, including a major gold-for-oil trade with Iran used to circumvent western sanctions.
The scandal has united Mr Erdogan’s secular opponents with his former allies, including the Islamist Hizmet movement led by a charismatic religious leader, Fethullah Gulen.
Critics say the EU’s ambivalent attitude to Turkey’s attempts to join over the last decade have driven Mr Erdogan away from the West and towards closer relations with neighbours such as Iran, and heightened his sense of political alienation.
via Turkey lashes out at EU ‘interference’ in corruption scandal – Telegraph.