| Series Title | EUObserver |
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| Series Details | 27.12.13 |
| Publication Date | 27/12/2013 |
| Content Type | News |
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EUObserver and other news sources reported on the 27 December 2013 that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan had reshuffled almost half of the entire cabinet - 10 ministers - in a bid to stave off calls that he should resign over a corruption scandal. One of the ministers who lost his job was Egemen Bagis, the EU affairs minister and chief negotiator for Turkey's EU membership. The moves came amid an ongoing police investigation into allegations of illicit money transfers to Iran and government officials having taken bribes for construction projects. BBC News reported that Turkey's military had said it did not want to get involved in 'political arguments', amid the major political corruption scandal. Deutsche Welle suggested that many had speculated that Erdogan's political rivals in the Gulen movement, headed by preacher Fethullah Gulen, used associates in the judiciary and police to bring the scandal to light. France24 reported that the movement founded by Islamic preacher Fethullah Gülen, with its effective communication strategy and connections to police, had emerged as a powerful enemy of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. On 6 January 2014, Deutsche Welle shed a light on the Erdogan family, which had been drawn into the corruption probe. BBC News reported on 7 January 2014 that Turkey had removed 350 police officers from their posts in the capital Ankara, following the corruption probe targeting people close to the government. |
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| Source Link | http://euobserver.com/foreign/122595 |
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| Countries / Regions | Turkey |
