Turk economy minister and interior minister resigned on Wednesday in over a high-level corruption probe that has pitted the government against the judiciary.
Zafer Caglayan’s son Salih Kaan and Muammer Guler’s son Baris Guler were among 24 people arrested on corruption charges on December 17 in a case centering on state-run lender Halkbank.
Both denied accusations of involvement in bribery relating to urban development projects and the allocation of construction permits.
“I have resigned from my post of economy minister to help the truth to come out and to foil this ugly plot, which has impacted my child and my close work colleagues among others,” Caglayan said in a statement.
“It is obvious that the operation carried out on Dec 17 is a dirty set-up against our party and our government.”
The Erdogan government has termed the scandal as a foreign-orchestrated attempt to destabilise Turkey, which during the Islamist-rooted premier’s three terms has flourished economically though Erdogan has been accused of authoritarianism.
The affair has reignited anti-Erdogan sentiment among many Turks that had simmered since the unprecedented mid-2013 mass-protests against his rule.
Moving to calm the domestic divisions, President Abdullah Gul pledged on Tuesday that there would be no conspiracy and that the investigation would be arbitrated in independent courts.
