Parliament acquits four ex-ministers on corruption, but vote stirs ruling AKP

Turkey's parliament has acquitted four ex-ministers who faced graft charges, thanks to the votes of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) deputies. Many other AKP deputies, on the other hand, have broken the party lines, infuriating the leadership while surprising most observers.

264 deputies voted against sending former Economy Minister Zafer Ça?layan to the Supreme Council in order to be tried on charges of bribery and corruption, while 242 deputies voted for it at a secret vote during the General Assembly session on Jan. 20. Seven deputies abstained from voting, as three votes were deemed invalid and another one turned out to be empty.

Ça?layan, who was not present at the Parliament during the vote due to the funeral ceremony for his late mother, was one of four implicated ex-ministers with former EU Minister Egemen Ba???, former Enrivonment and Urban Planning Minister Erdo?an Bayraktar and former Interior Minister Muammer Güler.

In the second vote of the night, 513 deputies cast votes. 258 deputies voted against sending Güler to the top court, while 241 voted for it. Six deputies have abstained, four votes have been counted as invalid and another four cast empty.

The third vote, which was conducted only after midnight due to the ensuing debate on parliamentary rules, was on the case of Ba???. Out of 517 ballots cast, 255 votes were against sending Ba??? to the court and 245 were for it. Seven deputies have abstained and 10 votes were either invalid or empty.

515 deputies cast their votes in the fourth and the last voting session was on the case of Bayraktar. While 219 of them voted to send Bayraktar to the court, 288 opposed it. Three deputies abstained, as a total of five votes were either invalid or empty....