Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ has said only 66 civil servants are under arrest for bribery in prisons in Turkey, the Birgün daily reported on Monday.
According to the report, Bozdağ said in a written statement that as of May 31, 2016 only 66 public workers had been jailed for allegedly committing bribery, in response to a parliamentary question asked by Republican People’s Party (CHP) deputy Sezgin Tanrıkulu.
Turkey witnessed the biggest bribery investigation of its history in the Dec. 17-25, 2013 period. Iranian businessman Reza Zarrab was arrested for bribing Turkish officials in an investigation implicating members of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government and people close to then-Prime Minister and current President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. He was released after the charges were dropped. The Turkish prosecutor and the police officers responsible for the investigation were either suspended or arrested.
