ISTANBUL (Medyascope) – Former Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu and former Ankara Mayor Melih Gökçek, both former allies of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and members of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) have recently been targeted by investigations.
By Leo Kendrick • Medyascope
In this article
The investigation into Davutoğlu, who served as Prime Minister between 2014-2016, alleges he insulted President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan during a campaign stop in the eastern city of Bingöl in 2021. Davutoğlu resigned from Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) in 2019 and went on to form the center-right Future Party, which failed to achieve major electoral success. Last month, Davutoğlu announced he was dissolving the Future Party and retiring from active politics.
The investigation into Gökçek focuses on the business dealings of the former Ankara Mayor’s family’s business in Germany. Melih Gökçek served as mayor of Ankara from 1994-2017 and has routinely been dogged by corruption allegations although he has never been formally charged.
Davutoğlu defends comments as ‘demanding accountability’
Denying he had insulted President Erdoğan in the 2021 campaign speech, Davutoğlu defended himself Monday (September 7) in a statement, alleging the case against him to be politically motivated:
“I am here today to reaffirm my belief in the rule of law, justice, democracy, and freedom of expression. This case illustrates openly the current state of judicial independence in our country…I insulted nobody, I simply asked for accountability. I did not commit a crime, I voiced a criticism within my constitutional rights and political responsibility.”
In his original speech in 2021 that is the subject of the investigation, Davutoğlu had accused Erdoğan of feeding his patronage network and exploiting public resources for ‘illicit gain’. For years, opposition politicians in Turkey have criticized Erdoğan and the AKP for feeding lucrative government tenders to a group of five holding companies close to the government known by detractors as the ‘Gang of Five’.
Gökçek gives statement on investigation into family’s business dealings
Former Ankara Mayor Melih Gökçek’s family has been accused of illegal money transfers through HAMAG GmbH, a real estate company owned by the Gökçek family. On September 4th, Gökçek arrived at a courthouse in Ankara to issue a statement on the matter. Speaking with reporters after giving the statement, Gökçek refused to divulge details of his statement, promising to go into detail once the investigation is finished. While addressing reporters, Gökçek did take aim at current Ankara Mayor Mansur Yavaş, one of the most prominent opposition politicians in Turkey.
The allegations against the Gökçek family followed an investigative report recently released by journalist Murat Ağırel.
Yesterday, Gökçek’s son and daughter-in-law were released from detention on bail with a ban on international travel.
Recent investigations target former allies, religious conservatives
Investigations in Turkey in recent months have begun to target individuals and groups previously believed to be immune from such cases including alles of the ruling conservative government.
In December, news anchor Mehmet Atif Ersoy, a longtime AKP ally, was arrested on drug charges in a move that surprised analysts and commentators due to his closeness to the ruling government.
Recently, several conservative religious Islamic orders not aligned with Erdoğan’s government, have been subject to investigations and arrests.
Former Erdoğan allies hit with investigations | Written/translated by Leo Kendrick for Medyascope | Edited by Medyascope English Newsroom
