'Interior minister used Sezgin Baran Korkmaz's plane during election campaign'

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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.

(HA/VK)