ISTANBUL
The Istanbul prosecutor has decided not to proceed against the 53 accused in the December 17 corruption probe, the Public Prosecutor's Office announced on Friday.
The prosecutor found that there were problems with evidence to prove the accusations of corruption. Proof of criminal elements or of any such conspiracy was not discovered, the prosecutor said.
Meanwhile, the Prosecutor's Office decided to prosecute separately the former Director General of Halk Bank, Suleyman Arslan, who now will be accused of illegal fundraising.
On Dec. 17, 2013 a broad corruption probe was launched, in which many well-known businessmen as well as the children of ministers were taken into custody. Among them were Raris Guler, the son of the then Turkish Interior Minister Muammer Guler and Salih Kaan Caglayan, the son of the then Economy Minister.
Turkey's new President, who was then Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused the Istanbul-based anti-graft probe that shook the country, of being a conspiracy against successful Turkey, and he asserted that it targeted not the Turkish government or the ruling AK Party, but Turkey itself.
Erdogan has accused the followers of U.S based Islamic scholar Fethullah Gulen as responsible for what he called the “December 17 coup.”
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