Turkish prosecutors' inaction to probe alleged bribery in stock market draws ire

Turkish prosecutors have not yet taken an action to investigate mafia boss Sedat Peker’s allegations of a corruption network in the stock market. In an interview with daily Evrensel, former Judges Union head Mustafa Karadağ said that prosecutors “know what will happen to them should they launch an investigation against the rulership.”

Sunday August 28 2022 11:04 pm

This file photo shows the building of Capital Markets Board (SPK).

Duvar English

Former Judges Union head Mustafa Karadağ has commented on mafia boss Sedat Peker’s allegations of the existence of a corruption network in Turkey’s stock market.

Karadağ said that the judiciary has so far failed to take any action with respect to the allegations because “prosecutors and judges do not want to do any wrong to the rulership.”

Peker on Aug. 27 unveiled a new series of allegations, revealing a network of bribery and corruption in the stock exchange.

Peker said that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s advisor Serkan Taranoğlu, former Capital Markets Board (SPK) head Ali Fuat Taşkesenlioğlu, ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) lawmaker Zehra Taşkesenlioğlu, and pro-government daily Hürriyet columnist Burak Taşçı were all involved in the operation of the bribery network for companies that are listed in the stock market.

No government official has yet issued any statement with respect to the allegations, or no investigation has been yet launched.

Several people have started to ask what the prosecutors have been waiting for, while main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu announced that they would file a criminal complaint for the allegations to be investigated.

“Prosecutors and judges saving the homeland, let me see you; the issue is not about concerts, it is about SPK,” Kılıçdaroğlu said in a tweet on Aug. 27.

Pazartesi parti örgütümüz suç duyurusunda bulunacak. Vatan kurtaran savcı ve hakim, haydi göreyim sizi; hem konser falan değil, konu SPK... Gençler sakın birbirinize düşmeyin! Hakaret falan değil mesele. Sizi kavga ettirmek istiyorlar çünkü paraya tapıyorlar. Paratapar bunlar.
— Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu (@kilicdarogluk) August 27, 2022

In an interview with daily Evrensel, former Judges Union head Mustafa Karadağ said that judges are no longer independent in Turkey and cannot take an action unless approved by the government.

“In recent years, we see that prosecutors have lost their ability to take an action on their own. They have been ordered to launch an immediate investigation with respect to statements and actions that go against the rulership, but they know what will happen to them should they launch an investigation against the rulership,” said Karadağ.

Politics has also infiltrated into the judiciary through the hiring of new cadres that are affiliated with the ruling party, according to Karadağ. “When this situation is coupled with the existence of judiciary members working with instructions, then a herd of prosecutors that overlook such great amount of bribery comes into being,” he said.