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A columnist for daily Cumhuriyet has claimed that Minister of Interior Süleyman Soylu used a plane belonging to businessperson Sezgin Baran Korkmaz during an election campaign.
"According to the information I have received, Soylu used this plane as if it's his private taxi during the election period," Tuncay Mollaveisoğlu wrote in today's (June 25) issue.
Allegedly involved in a scheme to defraud the US Treasury, Korkmaz was arrested in Austria on June 19 at the request of the US. According to the US prosecutors, some 134 million dollars of unearned income was transferred to Turkey for money laundering. Korkmaz has also an investigation against him in Turkey for this offense.
Convicted mob boss Sedat Peker, who has been making revelations about mafia-state relations and corruption in Turkey, previously claimed that government officials had demanded a bribe from Korkmaz in exchange for the investigation against him to be dropped.
Peker also claimed Korkmaz had visited Minister Soylu at his office one day before fleeing Turkey, despite having an arrest warrant against him. Korkmaz has confirmed both claims.
The plane allegedly used by Soylu was a Bombardier Global worth 54 million US dollars, according to Mollaveyisoğlu. "With his flying palace, Korkmaz flew many 'famous' figures and this plane made non-stop flights, according to claims," he wrote.
The plane's flight registry should be found at the General Directorate of Civil Aviation, he wrote.
Korkmaz and bribery allegationsMob boss Sedat Peker, who has been releasing controversial videos on state-mafia relations in Turkey since early May, made allegations about Korkmaz in his video on June 6. He claimed that Korkmaz visited Minister of Interior Süleyman Soylu at his office one day before he departed from Turkey, despite having an arrest warrant against him. He also talked about a recording of a phone call between journalist Veyis Ateş and Korkmaz and questioned how Ateş was able to afford to stay at a luxurious hotel owned by Korkmaz. Later, Korkmaz said Ateş had asked him for a bribe of 10 million Euro during the phone conversation, the recording of which was released on Twitter by journalist and MP Ahmet Şık on June 21. Ateş claimed that the recording was created by combining parts from several conversations and denied that he requested money from Korkmaz. In the recording, a person who is believed to be Ateş says "a lobby, a clique" was responsible for the investigation against him but he can get away with that if he proves his "sincerity." When Korkmaz asks what the proof is, he replies, "10 million Euro." It's not clear on whose behalf Ateş was negotiating with Korkmaz. |
(HA/VK)
