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NEWS |
PRESS RELEASE
24.02.2007
WHAT'S BEHIND THE CURTAIN IN THE RAIDS TO STRIKE FEAR INTO THE
FREE PRESS SHOULD BE BROUGHT OUT INTO THE OPEN
A) MUST ILLUMINATE DARK ACTIVITIES
We
feel that in the name of DEMOCRACY and TRANSPARENCY, it
is ESSENTIAL that reasons, in the following areas, should be announced for
the operations (raids) aimed to (break the back) of Kanaltürk Television which presents independent
programs, especially regarding corruption, opposed to the political party in
power.
1) What is the LEGAL BASIS for the on-going investigation into the
wealth of Kanaltürk TV and its employees?
2) What is the REASON for this investigation?
3)
WHO SIGNED the letter directing Tax Auditor Metin Ölçek to carry out this
investigation and WHO GAVE THE ORDER?
4) Are there any other investigations
being conducted on a sectoral basis? If not,
WHAT IS THE REASON FOR THIS TARGETING?
B) INVITATION TO USE COMMON SENSE
Democracy can only live
in an enviornment managed by democratic leaders.
When
democracy is not treated seriously and carefully, with transparency and
the rule of law foremost, everyone will be harmed by this.
Therefore WE CALL FOR the government to be careful to make all their decisions
and actions within the framework of legal rules taking into consideration
criticizims made.
It
should never be forgotten that THIS COUNTRY BELONGS TO ALL OF US.
Toplumsal Saydamlık Hareketi Derneği
Chairman
Vice Chairman
Vice Chairman
Erciş Kurtuluş Mustafa
Mbr Board of Directors Mbr Board of Directors Mbr Board of Directors
M. Yener
Gürmen
Fahriye
Kürani
Kemal Taştan
Mbr Board of Directors Mbr Board of Directors Mbr Board of Directors
Naci Esen
Oya Çetinkaya
Alper Acındı
****************************************************************************
WE CONDEMN HRANT DİNK'S MURDERERS
To live
like a tree individual and free
And like
a forest in brotherhood
This is
our invitation.
Nazım Hikmet
The real murders of Uğur Mumcu, Bahriye Üçok, Ahmet
Taner Kışlalı,
Muammer Aksoy, Bedrettin Cömert, Musa Anter, Ümit Doğanay,
Abdi İpekçi, Necip Hablemitoğlu, Hasan Balıkçı,Turan Dursun and those behind the
The State could
not protect or did not protect the enlightened and citizens.
To bring to justice
those dark forces who cannot tolerate our brotherliness is the duty of the
State.
We
extend our sympathies to the family, staff of Agos newspaper,
and to our nation.
Toplumsal Saydamlık Hareketi Derneği
Board of
Directors
****************************************************************************
Chairman Ercis Kurtulus'
Statement on TV
Kanal Türk
Television Station
29 January 2007
Program Name : Corrupton and Poverty
Program
Program Moderator : Tuncay Mollaveisoğlu
Program Participants:
from İstanbul
:
Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu
(CHP İstanbul Representative in Parliament)
Uğur Civelek
(Economist)
Atılay Ergüven
(Government Auditors' Association Chairman)
from
Murat Şefkatli
(MHP Vice Chairman)
Participating via Telephone :
Erciş Kurtuluş
(TSHD Chairman)
Good Evening
Mr. Mollaveyisoğlu,
My greeting and
respects to you and the valuable speakers.
THE EVENT WHICH THEY
CALL A SCANDAL IS NOT CLEAR
I cannot completely understand the events which some press entities have labelled a big scandal and have kept at the top of their
news for days.
Which
information source has been breached? Is there an abuse of
authority? Is this information actually secret?
In recent years
First let me state
this: For years in
For days the media has made a
it seem like a horrible thing that the computer records of the President
of the Republic and the Chief of Staff of the Military have
been entered. I do not think that there is anything about the
wealth of either of these persons that is not public knowledge. Besides,
in enlightened countries the wealth of persons at this level and their
bank accounts are transparent. They are not covered up.
Apparently the situation is that the current
party in power and those people and companies close to them are worried about
the possibility that some information about them may come out into
the sunshine.
In summary I wonder about the truth behind this business. I hope that it
will become clear soon. I hope that this program will bring out the
truth.
THE
SENSITIVENESS OF THE REVENUE DEPARTMENT !
Of
course we respect their sensitivity regarding illegal activities.
However, I want to inform you and the public about something.
Three years ago an international organization conducted a survey to
learn about the degree of complaint about corruption among the people of
many countries and the result in
The following year the same survey came up with the same results in
However, it had been our hope that the Revenue Department would work on
this issue, and show an effort toward a clean society cooperating with us.
Thank God an independent court threw the case out of court and we were
relieved of any financial and moral
pressure.
This
year the survey showed that the Turkish public still complains most
about the Revenue (Tax) Department. The Turkish public is
the only one of all 60 countries included in the survey which puts
the Tax Department first on the list. However, the Tax
Department, which took us to court, does not think it necessary to do anything
about the dark problem within itself.
Now, there is an important side to the event which has been lansed
as a scandal, but the background of which is not understood. Based
on this event an Inspector of Finance has been removed from duty. It is
essential to be very careful and have very strong reasons when giving such
a decision which was said to be based on an Inspector of Finance putting
the Government into a bad light while conducting an investigation. Even
if it were not such a sensitive situation, such a decision to relieve an
Inspector of Finance from duty has never happened before. I am a
retired Inspector of Finance. In the 47 years since I entered this elite
entity, I have never seen such a thing.
There are currently very many representatives in Parliament who have corruption
court cases open against them, who hide behind the shield of immunity and in
effect laugh at justice. There are also many investigative reports
regarding high level bureaucrats and they are untouchable. On the other
hand, an Inspector of Finance investigating the El kadi
file, which is rightfully questionable, is relieved of his duties.
Tomorrow when sufficient evidence cannot be presented to the court on
this issue and if this Inspector is found innocent and it is determined that
the Board of Inspectors has been insulted and brought low, how will
those responsible for this be able to face people?
If a serious illegal action cannot be found in this event which has been
touted as a gerat scandal, will those who are
responsible for the dirtying of the fabric of the Turkish society not be held
for questioning?
IS
THIS AN ATTEMPT TO COMPLETE THE CADRO-FILLING (of Government positions
with supporters) ?
Those
in political power want people with a similar ideology to fill
government positions. Previously there was an understanding which
may be called your party - my party. Now, an ideologic closness - militant cadro approach is in place. Do they intend to
construct a structure where corrupton is covered and
controlled by continuously reducing the number of inspectorate entities whose
duty is to bring out corruption and by eliminating independent
professionals? How much can such an audit structure serve a clean
society?
LAST
TWO POINTS
1. THE
2. IN TAX MATTERS AND THE WEALTH OF PUBLIC SERVANTS AND THEIR FINANCIAL
RELATIONSHIPS, WIDE
TRANSPARENCY IS A NECESSITY
In
A last
word: As a civil society organization and one whose situation
makes them expert in detail on these issues, the Association of
Inspectors of Finance should not remain silent on this subject. I hope it
will take an objective stand and declare this to the public.
Thank you.
***************************************************************************
PRESS RELEASE
15 June 2006
FINANCIAL RELATIONSHIPS OF CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS MUST
BE TRANSPARENT
In recent
years, some international organizations and some foreign associations have
given large sums of money to civil society organizations in Turkey under the
name of donations or project support, and this financial assistance has placed
these Turkish civil society organizations under the effect and control of these
foreign entities, either consciously or unconsciously,.and
some issues, such as whereas civil initiatives should be voluntary, they
have become the livelihood of some persons, are being increasingly
debated and criticized by the public
Our Board of
Directors has decided the following:
Taking into account that these operations, which are far
from transparent and, from time to time, are in opposition to the good of
our country,
a) Today, as in the past,
1. Our Association will not
accept any financial assistance in the form of a donation, project assistance
or under similar names from any foreign government, foundation,
or association which are not the signatories of an international
agreement with our country,
2. The background reasons and
results of any conferance, panel or research done in
conjunction with a foreign organization or entity will be transparently
explained and announced to the public through our web site and via e-mail,
3. Such meetings and research
work will be conducted continuing to follow the principle of
protecting our country's benefit to the maximum extent possible.
b) In addition,
4. We will continue to make a
call to civil society organizations to announce and disclose to the public
in a transparent manner through web sites all financial assistance given by
foreign organizations, and bring their activities, income-expenditures and
management to a transparent situation.
5. We will cooperate with and
work to strength all civil society organizations which adopt such
principles
We
submit this to the public.
Toplumsal Saydamlik
Hareketi Dernegi
In the Name of the Board of Directors
Chairman
Vice Chairman
Vice Chairman Vice Chairman
Ercis Kurtulus
Lawyer Mustafa N. Karslı Onur Arı
M. Kemal Mısırlıoğlu
****************************************************************************
VATAN Newspaper 14 December 2005
THIS IS THE
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN US AND JAPAN
The boss of
the Japanese architect who skimmed off construction materials committed suicide
Japan is in an uproar
over the admission of an architect in this earthquake-prone country: “We
skimmed off construction materials from buildings I designed because of the
pressure from the construction companies.
These buildings can not withstand a medium strength earthquake.”
The owner of the
architectural company committed suicide out of shame, parliamentarians lept to
their feet. Shares of building companies
have dropped on the stock market, a court case has been opened against the architect
demanding a 10 year jail sentence.
But here in Turkey we have “mass
murder” and those responsible are in and out of jail in 3-5 months
While everyone is up in arms in
Japan without even one
building cracking, in
Turkey hundred of people die under
the rubble of collapsed buildings but the
those responsible
for the corrupt buildings
get comical punishments
VATAN Newspaper
14 December 2005
For the reset of
this news please look in our Web Site under “From the Press”
****************************************************************************
TSHD
CHAIRMAN ERCİŞ KURTULUŞ WAS A GUEST ON TWO
TRT1
RADIO PROGRAMS ON 26 DECEMBER 2005
Association Chairman Erciş Kurtuluş was interviewed on Monday, 26
December 2005 on TRT l “Gündem” Program at 08:45 produced by Kenan Gültekin,
and at 11:30 on the same day in “Konuşa Konuşa” Program produced by
Ali Kızan. In the “Konuşa
Konuşa” Program the other guests were former Customs Inspector and former
Deputy General Director Yunus Nadi Kural, Istanbul Üniversitesin Professor Dr.
Türkel Minibaş and Doç. Dr. Ahmet Güçer.
Both
programs were about the corruption and bribery uncovered at the Edirne
Kapıkule Border Customs.
+ + + + + + + +
A summary of the remarks by our
Association’s Chairman is as follows:
“In order to place our discussion on a
realistic base, I would first like to ask the public some questions, then
express my views.”
Did these people come
from the moon (45 customs officers 19 police 64 people) ?
Did these people
turn into bribe takers in only the past few weeks or few months?
If Police Chief
Avcı had not been exiled to Edirne would this corruption be brought into
the open?
If Mr. Avcı
had remained in the General Directorate in Ankara I wonder if even greater corruption in Ankara might have
been brought to the forefront?
In order to
uncover other corruption should Mr. Avcı be exiled to another duty place?
Everyone at
Turkey’s largest border entry point was involved in this bribery organization;
didn’t higher level government managers and political powers know anything
about this?
Didn’t the
Minister, the Deputy Minister, General Director, Governor have any knowledge
about the deeply corruption system set up there? How can such filth lasting this long be
viewed positively?
How many years
will it take this investigation which has begun before it reaches the court?
+ + + + +
+ + +
We recently announced the results of the Transparency International “Voice of the People Against Corruption”
survey which was conducted in 69 countries.
In Turkey, the public responded that there is considerable corruption in
all organizations. The public said that
four most corrupted sectors in Turkey are Tax Office, political parties, health
and customs.
People felt that out of a top corruption
score of 6, the Customs was at the 4.1 level.
Hong Kong 2.6 , Japan 2.9, Denmark 1.8, France 2.7, Germany 2.6
We are in the same league with Togo,
Bulgaria, Peru, India, and Cameroon.
When the results of this independent objective
survey were released, the Ministry of Finance and his supporters blamed us with
false stateemnts.
+ + + + + + + +
THANKS
At the same time
as asking these questions, we want to present our thanks, on behalf of our
Association, to those who played an effective role in uncovering this
corruption, Mr. Hanefi Avcı, Edirne Governor, the judge and prosecutor who
were on duty in this case, and the police officials as well as the media who
made the public aware of the activities.
These professionals are aware of their duty and have a high sense of
ethics and love of country and it is due to such public servants that our
State, in spite of all the negative factors involved, can stay strong.
AVCI AND TSHD
We would like to make an important reminder
at this point. When Police Chief Hanefi
Avcı was exiled from an important position in Ankara at the new year, our
Association was the only civil society organization which critcized this and
stood behind Mr. Avcı.
+
+ + + + + + +
WHAT IS THE PROBLEM? WHERE IS THE SOLUTION?
We are trying to
kjill mosquitoes in the swamp with a hand spray pump.
But the real
issue is how to dry up the swamp.
And the
underlying prerequisite to succeeding in drying up the swamp is the existence
of “political will”.
THE REPORT CARD OF THE CURRENT
PARTY IN POWER
The current Administration
began with an Emergency Plan of Action.
It passed initial
changes in the Criminal Code to facilitate it and make it more effective.
However, theses
activities have stopped in the past year.
THERE IS STILL A CHANCE
There is still a
chance to pass the necessary basic laws and limit immunity to align it with EC
criteria.
The three basic
things that must be done are:
-Limit immunity
-Pass a political ethic law
-Establish a central authority to fight against corruption
Even if the final
laws for these three are not passed now, to speed up the anti-corruption
process, at least the Administration should prepare them during this period for
passage in the next period.
+
+ + + + + +
THREE CALLS TO
ACTION:
To our people: As individuals each of us
should strive to be worthy of a clean society.
This includes not making purchases without VAT, not using stolen
unmetered electricity, following traffic laws, not giving bribes.
To our higher level government
managers: Stop protecting the corrupt
bureaucrats in your own department; instead of covering up the problems in your
our area, try to clean them up.
To our political leaders: Be an example for a clean society; pass the
basic laws necessary to move against corruption; instead of using the powerful
political arena for your self-aggrandizement use your position to serve the
people and your country.
The closing words were : We hope that greater efforts will be made
against corruption and that public opinion will be stronger in 2006.
*******************************************************************************
TSHD
MEETING WITH MR. JAKOB SIMONSEN, UNITED NATIONS RESIDENT REPRESENTATIVE
IN TURKEY
We invited Mr. Simonsen, the United Nations Resident Representative in
Turkey, to our meeting and press conference held to mark 9 December 2005 United
Nations Anti Corruption Day.
Mr. Simonsen responded that he would not come on that day, however, that he
wished to meet with TSHD in Istanbul on 12 December 2005.
The
meeting which took place at 11:00 in The Marmara Hotel was attended, in the
name of the Association, by Erciş Kurtuluş, Haluk Boran, Turgay
Demirci ve Shirley Kurtuluş.
During
the meeting, we discussed our project proposals previously submitted
to the United Nations and possible avenues of cooperation.
Mr. Simonsen showed considerable interest in our activities and expressed his
desire to continue our meeting after the new year in Ankara to determine what
we can jointly do in regard to anti-corruption efforts, which
is the aims of operation of both of our organizations.
******************************************************************************
PRESS RELEASE
18 October 2005
TRANSPARENCY
INTERNATIONAL
2005
CORRUPTION PERCEPTION INDEX
TURKEY is 65th of 159 COUNTRIES
LAST YEAR
WE WERE 77TH OF 146 COUNTRIES
THERE
is an IMPROVEMENT IN TURKEY’S SCORE
OUR CLEANLINESS SCORE (OUT OF 10
)
IN 2003 TURKEY WAS 3.1. in 2004
3.2, in 2005 ROSE TO 3.5
OUR SCORE IN THE PAST 6 YEARS
Year Turkey’s Score No. Countries in Index Turkey’s Rank
2000 3.8 90 50
2001 3.6 91 54
2002 3.2 102 64
2003 3.1 133 77
2004 3.2 146 77
2005 3.5 159 65
In the tables
that we will distribute to you, you will see that the countries viewed as
“cleanist” are the Scandanavian countries Iceland, Finland, Denmark, Sweden,
some European countries, USA, Canada, New Zeland, Australia, and Hong Kong,
while those countries perceived as “dirtiest” are Bangladesh, Turkmenistan,
Haiti, Nigeria, Congo, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, and Tajikistan.
HOW IS THE SURVEY PREPARED? WHO
IS SURVEYED?
The CPI is a composite of 16 research
surveys done by 10 organizations.
11 of these 16 surveys included
Turkey.
The CPI was prepared
combining results from these 16 surveys by a research team in Passau
University, Germany led by Prof. Dr. Johann Graft Lambsdorf. The work was done on behalf of Transparency International
The 10
Organizations which conducted the surveys
The source organizations which conducted surveys which were combined into
the Corruption Perception Index are as follows.
Colombia University
Economist Intelligence Unit
Freedom House
Information International
Institute for Management Devolopment
, Switzerland
Merchant International Group
Political and Economic Risk
Consultancy
UN Economic Commission for Africa
(UNECA) (new source)
World Markets Research Center
Of these the
UNCEA was a source for the first time.
However, the World Bank, European Development Bank (ERBD) and the Gallup
Poll surveys were no longer included since surveys over 3 years old are not
used.
Who were
surveyed?
In the preparation of the surveys which go
into the CPI the organizations gathered opinions from the following types of
individuals.
- Foreign high-level businessmen,
local and international respected businessmen (World Markets Research
Center, Institute for Management Development Switzerland)
- Expert personnel and reporters of international organizations (Economist
Intelligence Unit, Merchant International Group, UN Economic Comission for
Africa, World Markets Research Center)
- Political analysts, academicians and newspapermen living in the USA
(Colombia University)
- Important businessmen in Bahrain, Lebanon and UAE (Information
International)
Foreigners Think that Corruption
Has Declined in Turkey
As explained above, in the Transparency International
research, the perception of foreign businessmen and foreign experts about
corruption in Turkey is reflected. It is
known that persons in this group sometimes are not objective in their
perceptions and value judgements and are
not able to dissociate themselves from other motives.
One wonders about whether there are
political influences in the valuation when you see that the survey indicates
that there has been a considerable improvement in the scores of countries such
as Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Ukrania, which were among the 15 most corrupt
countries last year and are known for their closeness to certain western
financial groups, while on the other hand Turkmenistan, which is largely closed
to western economic influences is shown in the index as getting worse.
Even though the results for our country
do not match with our opinions and those of the public, the fact that the
outside world thinks our country in improving is pleasing.
What Does the Turkish Public Think?
We think it is
important to stress that this research does not reflect the problems of the
Turkish public. The ugly scene facing
our people in
Tax Offices
Deed offices
Traffic
Building permits
Hospitals and health centers
Schools and education institutions
is not reflected
in the Transparency International Index.
Because the public is not surveyed.
The TI Chapter is not asked.
However, the Transparency International Global
Corruption Barometer Survey released on 9 December 2004 shows, on a score of 5,
that our people think that the dirtiest entities in our country (4 and above)
are the tax offices, businesses, customs, health entities, local services, and
political parties. That is why is is
incorrect to think based on the results released today that “we are starting to
be a clean society”.
We need to take the scapel to our
problem of corruption because until we do our society cannot register
improvements in modernization.
The problems of corruption and social
decay are like two sides of a coin:
On one side of
the coin is politics – judicial system – administration, and on the other side
are businessmen and the public. In order
to have a clean society politics and the justice system must clean themselves
up to be exemplary. If these two power
centers reach a high level then the administration will have to step in
line. Unfortunately, especially politics
is not setting a good example. On the
contrary, rather than being exemplary, politicians continue at a fast pace to
be worse examples.
On the other side of the coin our
businessmen and commercial persons and our public consider that integrity is
something for someone else and not their duty, that they are immune from
responsibilitiy.
If it is not considered shameful or a
sin to
give bribes to politicians or
bureaucrats to win a bid,
give bribes to police when we break
traffic rules instead of paying the legal fine,
use unmetered illegal
electricity,
take over treasury lands for private
construction,
cut in front of others in traffic,
in short, abuse the rights of others
in our daily
lives, and if that is how we live our lives, then certainly social decay is
unavoidable.
Our country and our people are faced with
this dramatic situation today.
Our last remarks are directed to media
leaders, columnists and reporters, who are supposed to be the levers for societal
improvement and development.
Working against corruption does not mean
printing here today gone tomorrow sensational news or using the press for
commercial competition against competitive groups under the name of integrity;
the media should be using real and lasting methods and supporting those
volunteer groups who are carrying out the struggle. I want to give an example.
The results have recently been finalized
about the Zümrüt Apartment in Konya trial where the corrupt construction
practices of past years designed to line pockets which resulted in the collapse
all by itself of the apartment burying 92 citizens. The result of the judicial decision is that
no one is in jail. This news will be met
with unbelief on the international platform, but in Turkey not one media entity
put it on the front page. And, our press
release about this issue was not printed by any newspaper or on tv.
On the other hand some women’s dirty
laundry is put on display with great pleasure nearly every day.
We would hope that one thousanth of the
press space given by our media to the dirty and shameful private details of
some individuals would be given to trying to reach a clean society.
The reasons for corruption and the
solutions we presented years ago, are still the same. Nothing has changed much.
The Government’s Report Card :
Now turning to an examination of the
Government’s work on corruption:
In the initial months of their governance the
administration gave indication that they would stress anti-corruption efforts,
however, lately it is apparent that this subject is off their agenda.
We prefer to
explain this as being due to the heavy burden of dealing with entrance into the
European Community We look forward to
an expediting of instutional reform work on these issues
.
Respectfully,
Toplumsal Saydamlık Hareketi Derneği
(Transparency
International – Türkiye)
On behalf of the Board of Directors
Chairman
Erciş Kurtuluş
Year Turkey ’s
Score No.Countries
in Index Turkey
1995 4.10 40 27
1996 3.54 54 33
1997 3.21 52 38
1998 3.4
85
54
1999 3.6
99
54
2000 3.8
90
50
2001 3.6
91
54
2002 3.2
102
64
2003 3.1 133 77
2004 3.2
146
77
2005 3.5 159 65
CPI 2005 CORRUPTION PERCEPTION INDEX
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Cntry Rank |
Country Name |
2005 CPI Score |
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