ISTANBUL
Turkish police detained 27 people under three different investigations into corruption and bribery allegations in early hours on Tuesday.
Judicial sources informed that security forces staged raids on allegations of “money laundering”, “gold smuggling,” and “bribery” as a result of two-year-long investigations headed by prosecutor Celal Kara.
According to sources, Celal Kara carries out an investigation about Mustafa Demir, mayor of Fatih, a busy district in Istanbul, who is accused of giving consent to conversion of an historical block of offices into a hotel and construction of a three-storey hotel on the route of Marmaray despite contrary reports.
Meanwhile, another prosecutor Mehmet Yuzgec investigates Turkish construction tycoon Ali Agaoglu and some other people. Sources did not give more details on that case.
While Istanbul police detained 22 people including Interior Minister's son and Economy Minister's son, security forces in Ankara detained five people and they were sent to Istanbul.
Following a news report that Ali Agaoglu was detained as a part of the investigation, his company released a statement and denied that news report. "Turkish judiciary has asked Ali Agaoglu to give statement on a wide-ranging investigation. Due to judicial order, police carried out a search at the head office," the firm said. However, his lawyer Ali Demirhan confirmed later on that Agaoglu is detained.
Halkbank, whose name appeared on the news as well, announced on Tuesday that the bank was asked to give information and documents regarding the ongoing investigation. According to news report, Halkbank General Manager Suleyman Aslan was among detainees.
The prosecutor has not released an official statement on the investigation. Istanbul Governor Huseyin Mutlu also avoided replying questions about detainments, adding that he cannot give details on the judicial case since the investigation continues. Similarly, Turkish Parliament Speaker Cemil Cicek also refused to comment on the judicial case.
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