Two Turkish ministers resign amid corruption scandal

PanARMENIAN.Net - Turkish Economy Minister Zafer Çağlayan and Interior Minister Muammer Güler, whose sons were arrested last week on accusations of bribery and corruption, announced resignation Wednesday, Dec 25, according to Hurriyet Daily News.

The announcement came hours after Çağlayan returned from a trip to Pakistan, where he accompanied Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

“It is clear that the operation that was launched on Dec 17 is a dirty [game] against our government, our party and our country,” Çağlayan said in a written statement. “I have left my duty as the economy minster to spoil this ugly game in which my son and my close aides were implicated and to allow the facts come out."

The high-level graft probe has shaken the political establishment, exposing a bitter feud between the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government and the Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, whose followers hold key positions in the police, judiciary and secret services.

Twenty-four people have been arrested under the corruption investigation that hit Turkey last week, including the sons of Interior Minister Muammer Güler and Çağlayan.

In response, approximately 70 police officers, including the powerful head of Istanbul’s force, have been sacked or moved to different posts.