Turkish Parliament acquits ex-ministers on charges of corruption with ruling AKP votes

Turkey's parliament has acquitted three of four ex-ministers who faced graft charges with 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.

As a matter of fact, the very first voting has already implied the course of the upcoming debate over results of all of the each separate voting on four former ministers. Even if eventually none of them are sent to the top court, the results for each of them and the votes in favor of sending them to the court will be a key element -- at least while analyzing internal dynamics of the ruling party.

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...