06.11.2007 - Source: European Commission

Anti-corruption policy ("Turkey 2007 Progress Report [SEC(2007) 1436]") [ID 22259]

"As regards coordinating the system currently in place for combating corruption, the Prime Minister's office transferred responsibility for policy definition and coordination with international organisations to the Ministerial Committee for Enhancing Transparency and Improving Good Governance. The Prime Ministry Inspection Board was tasked with providing technical and administrative support to the Committee.

The Military Court of the General Staff, for the first time, sentenced a serving lieutenant general to imprisonment for corruption. Eight officers were also sentenced. The High Tribunal gave a suspended prison sentence to a former energy minister for irregularities in the awarding of a contract. Corruption incidents, particularly in local government, were frequently covered by the media.

However, a number of issues remain to be addressed. No progress has been made regarding the adoption of the law on the Court of Auditors. Moreover, the Parliament does not exercise effective oversight over public expenditure because of the lack of a public accounts committee in the Parliament.

Limiting the extensive immunities granted to parliamentarians and public officials providing improved legislation and transparency on political party and election campaign financing remain key issues. As to the extension of the Code of ethical principles to parliamentarians, academics, the military or the judiciary, no progress has been made.

There was no progress on the development of an anti-corruption strategy. The establishment of a central body to develop and evaluate anti-corruption policies and activities remain crucial. Institutions involved in the fight against corruption, such as inspection boards, have not been strengthened. No public body is in charge of collecting data and statistics on corruption.

Overall, corruption is widespread and there has been limited progress in the fight against corruption. The development of an anti-corruption strategy the creation of a central body to coordinate its implementation, and strengthened legislation are of great importance. (See also chapter 23 - Judiciary & fundamental rights)."

Document(s): Open document

06.11.2007 - Source: European Commission

Corruption in the public sector ("Turkey 2007 Progress Report [SEC(2007) 1436]") [ID 22489]

"In the public sector, corruption remains a widespread issue for central and local governments. It has got a relatively more limited dimension in the private sector. The Turkish Criminal Code partially criminalises corruption in the private sector in cases such as bribery in publicly held companies.

A comprehensive anti-corruption strategy and plan with effective implementing institutions to prevent and fight corruption is still lacking. The development of such a strategy needs to be addressed at the highest political level."

Document(s): Open document

06.03.2007 - Source: US Department of State

Government corruption and transparency (as of 2006) ("Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2006") [ID 19003]

"Government corruption remained a persistent problem.

On June 23, the Supreme Court dismissed corruption charges against former prime minister Mesut Yilmaz and former state minister Gunes Taner, for procedural, not substantive, reasons. The Supreme Court's action had the same effect as formal acquittal.

The ruling AKP established an ad hoc parliamentary committee to investigate corruption soon after coming to power in 2002. The corruption committee made a number of recommendations, including lifting parliamentary immunity and establishing a permanent parliamentary anticorruption committee, none of which have been adopted.

On February 7, an Ankara military court convicted former naval forces commander Ilhami Erdil, on corruption charges involving military tenders and expenditures for his official residence. The court sentenced Erdil to three years in prison, a $35 dollar (50 lira) fine, and confiscated two of his Istanbul apartments. The court sentenced Deniz Halide Erdil and Sirin Melek Hekim to five months in prison for their alleged complicity in the matter, but later converted the sentence into a $418 (600 lira) fine for each. Similarly, the court sentenced General Erdil's assistant Kayatunc to two years and 15 days in prison, but converted the punishment to a $209 (300 lira) fine. The court acquitted General Erdil's wife Fusun Erdile.

Opposition party members criticized the ruling AKP for refusing to lift the immunity of AKP parliamentarians suspected of corruption and other abuses.

The law provides for public access to government information; however, the government occasionally rejected applications on national security and other grounds, and there were no opportunities to appeal. HRF requests for information during the year were denied, and there was no opportunity to appeal. The Press Council reported that it received no complaints during the year from journalists regarding access to government information."

Document(s): Open document

08.11.2006 - Source: European Commission

Anti-corruption measures ("Turkey 2006 Progress Report") [ID 18908]

"Concerning transparency in the public administration, the Law on Access to Information was amended in 2006 to enable citizens to dispute all decisions of state agencies regarding denials of requests for information.

The Parliamentary investigation commissions on the gasoline smuggling and on the illegal public offering completed their reports. Both reports show a wide range of corruption activities. The first case involved a former Minister of Finance and Minister of State, and has serious economic and financial implications. The reports include recommendations for measures to be taken by the public institutions.

However, a number of issues remain to be addressed. Corruption remains widespread in the Turkish public sector and judiciary, despite the efforts of recent years. Turkey needs to improve its legislation on financing and auditing of political parties.

The wide scope of parliamentary immunity remains a significant problem in the context of corruption in Turkey.

With regard to corruption investigations carried out by the Inspection Boards, the need for a prior authorisation from the hierarchy when investigating some categories of public officials hampers the investigation.

There is a need for better co-ordination of the system currently in place for combating corruption. The designation of a body with sufficient independence responsible for the conception and monitoring the implementation of anti-corruption measures could be helpful in this respect.

Overall, there has been some limited progress in the fight against corruption, notably on increasing transparency in the public administration. However, corruption remains widespread and anti-corruption authorities and policies are still weak."

Document(s): Open document

29.06.2005 - Source: Freedom House

Report on anticorruption and transparency ("Countries at the Crossroads 2005") [#41974], [ID 14475]

for more detailed information seek out original document below

"Turkey struggles with substantial corruption in government and in daily life. The AKP rose to power despite (or perhaps because of) being relatively unknown in part due to the corruption and economic mismanagement of previous governments. In the last year alone Turkey has signed a series of international corruption conventions, including the Group of States Against Corruption (GRECO), the UN Convention against Corruption, and the European Convention on the Fight against Corruption. However, AKP's commitment to fighting corruption has been halfhearted at best. Perhaps even more so than with other reforms aimed at EU membership, the anticorruption framework has not translated into individuals changing their behavior."

Document(s): Open document

04.2005 - Source: UK Home Office

Corruption ("Country Report - April 2005") [#31987], [ID 14476]

"[...]3.6 Transparency International ranked Turkey 77th out of 146 countries in its Corruption Perception Index for 2004. [55a] The Index relates to perceptions of the degree of corruption as seen by business people, academics and risk analysts, and ranges between 10 (highly clean) and 0 (highly corrupt). Turkey obtained a score of 3.2 in 2004 - a slight improvement from the 3.1 it received in 2003. [55b]
3.7 The European Commission Regular Report on Turkey’s progress towards Accession 2004 published 6 October 2004 reported that “In the last year, some further progress has been achieved in adopting anti-corruption measures. However, surveys continue to indicate that corruption remains a very serious problem in Turkey.” [71c] (p28) [...]"

Document(s): Open document

16.03.2005 - Source: Transparency International

Global corruption report 2005 - Turkey ("Global Corruption Report 2005") [#33007], [ID 14477]

for more detailed information seek out original document page 43

"Corruption Perceptions Index 2004 score: 3.2 (77th out of 146 countries)

Conventions: Council of Europe Civil Law Convention on Corruption (ratified September 2003) Council of Europe Criminal Law Convention on Corruption (ratified March 2004) OECD Anti-Bribery Convention (ratified July 2000) UN Convention against Corruption (signed December 2003; not yet ratified) UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (ratified March 2003) Legal and institutional changes

• At the time of writing a draft anti-corruption law was being reviewed in parliamentary committees. It was prepared by the ministry of justice and, if passed, would alter existing laws regarding the prosecution of corruption offences. The draft law lists all those activities that are to be considered corruption offences and the procedures to be followed in their prosecution. It also extends the statute of limitations and revises a host of other related legislation such as the criminal code, the tax code and drug enforcement laws. It also contains provisions covering paying reparations and damages, whistleblower protection and the training of civil servants.
The draft legislation features a temporary clause allowing bank owners who have illegally siphoned deposited funds for personal use to avoid incarceration by repaying their depositors directly, rather than the burden being placed on the state. Unlike anti-corruption laws in other countries, it would not establish an independent entity dedicated to fighting corruption.

• A new law that came into force in August 2003 criminalises false reporting by banks, including misreporting deposit amounts. This piece of legislation is known as the Uzan Law, named after the family that owns the Imar Bank. Under the new law, the state assumed control of the bank, which was involved in Turkey’s largest ever banking scandal (see below).

• Moving towards greater public transparency, a new access to information law was approved by parliament in October 2003. The law is designed to increase transparency in public management and allows citizens access to information about public activities. The law came into force with the passing of regulations in April 2004. Definitions of state and commercial secrets are noticeably absent from the new law.

• Public pressure led to the introduction of a public procurement law in January 2002. However, the current administration used its majority in parliament to reverse many of the provisions of the reform with an amendment law passed in July 2003. Powerful interest groups, including government entities, continue to lobby for exclusion from its provisions.

• A law establishing a public servants ethics commission was passed by parliament in May 2004. The law fails to set out any aims, definitions or guiding principles. In addition, the law states that the president, members of parliament and the cabinet of ministers are not subject to the articles of the law."

Document(s): Open document