ANKARA, 2 November 2004 — Two former Turkish energy ministers are due to appear before a special court today accused of serious irregularities in the handling of energy projects in a country with high hopes of EU membership but which is still plagued by corruption.
Cumhur Ersumer and Zeki Cakan are charged with abuse of power and corruption in tenders, especially in the purchase of gas, which cost Turkey hundreds of millions of dollars (euros). The verdict by the court in Ankara, normally Turkey’s constitutional court but sitting as the Supreme Court for this hearing, is likely to take several months. No appeal is possible. The two ex-ministers were members of government coalitions led by former Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit which was defeated at the ballot box in 2002.
The Justice and Development Party, which has Islamist roots and swept to power in November 2002, has pledged to stamp out corruption. And the trial is seen as a test of the party’s determination to combat the scourge which has long been rife in this secular but mainly Muslim nation.
The two defendants each face more than 10 years in prison if found guilty. They were members of the Motherland Party whose former leader Mesut Yilmaz, a three-time prime minister, has also been sent by Turkish lawmakers to trial on corruption charges, along with former economy minister Gunes Taner.
Their charges follow a bungled privatization of state-owned Turkbank in which the mafia was allegedly involved. After Turkey was hit by two financial crises of November 2000 and February 2001, sparked by endemic corruption in the country’s banking system, it adopted a raft of anti-corruption laws.
