Turkey’s parliamentary commission on graft queries ex-ministers’ wealth

A parliamentary commission into corruption among senior members of the government has questioned a sudden increase in the wealth of two former ministers on the back of allegations that they accepted bribes.

A company owned by former Environment and Urbanization Minister Erdoğan Bayraktar has trebled in size in the past three years, while former EU Minister Egemen Bağış’s business partner has seen "a significant increase" in his wealth since the beginning of 2013, according to the commission’s inquiry.

Parliament decided to establish an investigation commission to probe former ministers Bayraktar, Bağış, Zafer Çağlayan and Muammer Güler on May 5, after deliberations between the political parties in the legislature.

The four ministers were removed from the Cabinet after a huge graft operation in December 2013 highlighted their relations with shady Iranian-origin businessman Reza Zarrab, who allegedly paid them a number of bribes over the last few years.

A company owned by Bayraktar’s family increased its wealth from 17.5 million Turkish Liras in 2010 to 58.2 million liras in 2013. The commission asked for the details of real estate that Bayraktar’s firm bought in Kadıköy at a price of 42 million liras one year ago.

The inquiry said Bağış and his wife, Beyhan Bağış, owned eight properties and possessed 513,000 liras, $24,300 and jewelry worth around 192,000 liras. Meanwhile, the inquiry reported that significant deposits were made to the bank account of the partner of Bağış’s firm after Jan. 1, 2013. It said that the individual’s identity and relations were important for the commission. Bağış sold two of his properties at below the market value, the inquiry added.

“There is no...