TURKEY: Turks on the streets of Istanbul are bewildered by alleged corruption recordings that Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's office say are "completely untrue"

Record ID: 217706

  • Title: TURKEY: Turks on the streets of Istanbul are bewildered by alleged corruption recordings that Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's office say are "completely untrue"
  • Date: 25th February 2014
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (Turkish) ISTANBUL RESIDENT, DOGAN SIMSEK, SAYING: "Turkey is a victim of internal payoff. That's what I believe. In terms of its authenticity, for me, everything seems to be true and I believe that Turkey is going towards an irreversible road." ISTANBUL RESIDENT MUSTAFA KAZANCIOGLU BUYING NEWSPAPER (SOUNDBITE) (Turkish) ISTANBUL RESIDENT, MUSTAFA KAZANCIOGLU
  • Embargoed: 12th March 2014 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Turkey
  • Country: Turkey
  • Topics: Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVABLAFTYPG86JXZQNMBVV0DHIFZ
  • Story Text: Residents of Istanbul on Tuesday (February 25) morning were astonished over alleged voice recordings on YouTube purportedly of Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan telling his son to dispose of large sums of money.
    The voice recordings emerged late on Monday (February 24), the day news broke of a graft inquiry into Erdogan's government.
    Erdogan's office said the recordings were fake and "completely untrue".
    Reuters could not verify the authenticity of the audio recordings, which were posted on the video sharing site.
    In the recordings, the voice supposedly of Erdogan can be heard asking his son to remove the money from his home.
    The recordings are purportedly of Erdogan and his son Bilal discussing how to reduce the funds to "zero" by distributing them among several businessmen. At one point, the voice supposedly of Bilal says some 30 million euros ($40 million) remain to be disposed of.
    Some residents of Istanbul voiced doubt about the authenticity of the recordings.

    "I don't think these recordings are authentic. There is no evidence, no corroboration, nothing. People are blaming each other. Everybody creates gossip in this country," said one unnamed Istanbul resident.
    The recordings appeared two days after Erdogan's AK Party officially began campaigning for local elections at the end of March that will be a key test of his enduring popularity.

    "I am against all types of leaked recordings. Why now? Local elections are coming, everybody is blaming each other. This is not good and I feel sorry about what has been happening," said Salim Bas.
    Some Turks were bewildered by the recordings of Erdogan purportedly asking his son to remove money from his home.

    "Turkey is a victim of internal payoff. That's what I believe. In terms of its authenticity, for me, everything seems to be true and I believe that Turkey is going towards an irreversible road," said Dogan Simsek.
    The corruption scandal, which erupted on Dec. 17 with the detention of businessmen close to Erdogan and the sons of three ministers, has spiralled into one of the biggest challenges of his 11-year rule.
    Social media and video-sharing sites have been awash with leaked recordings presented as evidence of wrongdoing. As with the latest recordings, Reuters has been unable to verify their authenticity.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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