Turkish 'Interior minister used Sezgin Baran Korkmaz's plane
A columnist for daily Cumhuriyet has claimed that Minister of Interior Süleyman Soylu used a plane belonging to businessperson Sezgin Baran Korkmaz during an election campaign.
"According to the information I have received, Soylu
used this plane as if it's his private taxi during the election period,"
Tuncay Mollaveisoğlu wrote in today's (June 25) issue.
Allegedly involved in a scheme to defraud the US Treasury,
Korkmaz was arrested in Austria on June 19 at the request of the US. According
to the US prosecutors, some 134 million dollars of unearned income was
transferred to Turkey for money laundering. Korkmaz has also an investigation
against him in Turkey for this offense.
Convicted mob boss Sedat Peker, who has been making
revelations about mafia-state relations and corruption in Turkey, previously
claimed that government officials had demanded a bribe from Korkmaz in exchange
for the investigation against him to be dropped.
Peker also claimed Korkmaz had visited Minister Soylu at his
office one day before fleeing Turkey, despite having an arrest warrant against
him. Korkmaz has confirmed both claims.
The plane allegedly used by Soylu was a Bombardier Global
worth 54 million US dollars, according to Mollaveyisoğlu. "With his flying
palace, Korkmaz flew many 'famous' figures and this plane made non-stop
flights, according to claims," he wrote.
The plane's flight registry should be found at the General
Directorate of Civil Aviation, he wrote.
Comments
Post a Comment