Aydın Engin: 652 years’ net salary

What a week that was!

We started with Reza Zarrab. As if that was not enough, we ended the week with the addition of the “many millions of dollars” coming from the Isle of Man.

With our editorial office people drowning in this news over the week, they well and truly let go of the linguistic brakes when it came to using expletive words or even sentences.

For example, Reza Zarrab, speaking of the bribes he gave the former AKP minister, the politician by the name of Zafer Çağlayan, whom he said he conducted his dirty affairs with hand in hand, made mention of: “up to 45-50 million euro.” With the judge asking if it was 45 or 50, he said with his accustomed brazenness, “I can’t remember. It was more or less 45 or else 50 million euro” and one of our crew articulated a sentence beginning, “Heck, buddy” the remainder of which I cannot repeat here. Then he added:

- Hey, look you pimp, the five million euro you can’t remember amounts to my salary for 652 years!

Nobody in the editorial office was in the least taken back by this most poignant obloquy. They did not laugh, either. I imagine that they were repeating the same remark with even greater poignancy in their heads.

Reza Zarrab, who had been presented with awards from AKP ministers’ hands basking in no end of esteem for having single-handedly closed Turkey’s current account deficit, will continue to squeal next week.

We will continue to report this news with our stomachs turning close to vomiting. And you will read it with your stomachs turning close to vomiting.

The political merchants who have long since forgotten how to feel shame will wash their hands and increase the dosage of immoral lies to AK-quit themselves.

Nevertheless...

If you don’t mind, I will bring Zarrab’s adventures to a close for today.

I get the feeling I am swimming in a sewer, you see.

 ***

 It did not end with the tricks of Zarrab and his ilk (not Zarrab but Zarrab’s ilk). CHP General Chair Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu opened a “box” at his party’s group meeting. Another outpouring of filth flowed onto us from another sewer.

Details and documentation about the dancing with millions by “certain parties” ranging from the brother-in-law to the brother, son and friend were opened up before us; filth in immense proportions poured over us.

 ***

 The main thrust of the debate with its need for a settling of scores is being shifted with great mastery. It started as early as yesterday. The AKP Chief raised his voice right from Kars.

- I provided the leader of the main opposition with a pretty clear answer. I said my children did not send money abroad.

He had previously said this on 29 November. He said, “There is not, as has been alleged, a single cent that has gone abroad. Money came to them due to them having sold their existing companies. Money did not go there.”

For his part, Kılıçdaroğlu the day before yesterday reeled them off one by one, saying, “Ziya İlgen, the brother-in-law, 2.5 million dollars; Mustafa Erdoğan, the brother, 2.5 million dollars; Osman Ketenci, the son’s father-in-law, 1.25 million dollars; Ahmet Burak Erdoğan, the son, 1.45 million dollars” and then said that this money had been sent from Turkey to a company with a capital of one pound sterling set up on the Isle of Man.

On Friday, CHP spokesperson Bülent Tezcan showed the documents and distributed them to journalists. A sheaf made up of 148 documents. We got hold of that sheaf of documents by the evening of that day. Of necessity, I joined in this painstaking task.

Tayyip Erdoğan is right. The millions of dollars that were reeled off one by one were not sent from Turkey to the company on the Isle of Man. They were sent from the Isle of Man to the AKP Chief’s associates, i.e. to Turkey.

Well?

Is this the main thrust of the debate?

Are we to seek the answer to the question, “Did those millions of dollars go or come?”

Let the CHP give this answer.

Our profession poses the following question as a matter of priority:

- Why did this money come to these people who range from the son’s father-in-law said to be engaged in a highly profitable(!) business like operating taxis to the brother and son? What did they do or what did they sell for them to receive this money into their personal accounts?

Let’s see an answer to this question first and we will then look into the detail of whether it came or went.

 http://www.cumhuriyet.com.tr/koseyazisi/878600/652_yillik_net_maas_kadar....html