ANKARA
Turkish Interior Minister Muammer Guler on Sunday denied claims of corruption as an Istanbul-based anti-graft operation continues.
Posting a statement on his official Twitter account, Guler said, "It is out of question that we made any illegal business. We did nothing that we cannot give an account of."
The interior minister's son, Baris Guler, was among the fourteen people who were arrested late Saturday in the latest wave of incarcerations as part of the anti-graft investigation into allegations of corruption, bribery and money laundering.
The detainees included the head of the state-owned lender Halkbank Suleyman Aslan as well as Turkish economy minister's son Salih Kaan Caglayan.
Mustafa Demir, mayor of Istanbul's Fatih district, and Abdullah Oguz Bayraktar, son of Environment and Urban Planning Minister Erdogan Bayraktar, have been released under judicial supervision. They are barred from going abroad and have to show up at a police station once a week.
- "The operation is an ugly trap in guise of a corruption inquiry"
Later in the day, Minister Guler told AA that the documents published in the media regarding the claims of corruption were replete with "contradictions".
"Even at first look, I noticed that the published documents contained many contradictions; I noticed money-related insertions made in some critical points of the sound recordings," Guler said.
Stating that the initial phase of the investigation had been completed, Guler said "I interpret this operation as an ugly trap set in guise of a corruption inquiry."
"The operation has turned into a defamation campaign executed with the help of media manipulations," Guler added.
Denying the bribery allegations against him, Guler said "I plainly state that I am open to any investigation; if the subject comes to the parliament, I will immediately postulate an inquiry to be made [on me]," Minister Guler said.
Guler added that there was no confirmed evidence against him regarding the allegations of bribery.
- "I told the Prime Minister that I was ready for being discharged"
Guler said he asked Prime Minister Erdogan to relieve him from his post the day the investigation started.
"On December 17, the day the investigation started, I said to the Prime Minister that I was ready for anything, whether getting relieved from my post, or resignment, or dischargement," said Guler.
"Now I am waiting for the arrangement to be made by the Prime Minister," Guler added.
englishnews@aa.com.tr
