Ertugrul Ozkok: Those in Turkish PM’s favor innocent, those making demands guilty

His mistake had been to demand, "The same permission be granted for the Hilton Hotel as is granted for other buildings in the area."

That is reprehensible, isn't it?

Consider this; you apply to municipality for such permission. Where else could any businessman apply for permission for such a work? Is there a second state authority in Turkey? Should he apply to that authority?

The municipality granted permission to those it wanted and denied those it did not want.

No problem.

Anyway, no one was expecting fairness from the current administration.

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But what I cannot understand is the new attitude and method of asking somebody to account for something they have done which began with this government.

The prime minister calls on someone that was not granted permission to account for it by asking, "Why did you apply?"

He does not mention the favors, which he publicly granted and which deserve to be heard in the Supreme Court, and his actions in establishing his media.

Just look at the situation surrounding Sabah daily.

In which democratic country in the world would such a situation be allowed to happen?

Businessmen preparing for the tender for this newspaper were dissuaded.

And a company, headed by a close relative of the prime minister, is granted permission to participate in the tender as the sole bidder.

Then, the prime minister become directly involved in the sale process and attempts to have the sale price lowered.

Fortunately, he fails in this attempt.

No private bank approves the loan sought by the relative who won the tender.

Upon this, the prime minister again becomes involved in the tender process and "gives instruction" to two state-run banks to loan the necessary funds to sole bidder that won the tender.

Who was the sole bidder?

The same person that had previously been promised a refinery. A very close relative of the prime minister who stands at the head of his company.

All of these actions should be brought before the Supreme Court, especially if you take into consideration what has taken place in recent history.

We have witnessed the prime ministers and ministers being tried for much lesser actions.

The efforts of the prime minister do not end with this.

This particular relative is not satisfied with the loan awarded by the state banks.

Why should he pay money if another there is a way to acquire the Sabah Group, one of the leading Turkish media companies, for free?

Once again, the prime minister becomes involved in the process at this point.

The sole bidder also owns a small bank.

But this is a small bank with little worth since it does not have permission to collect deposits.

Yet, if this bank had permission to collect deposits, the loan for the funds needed to purchase Sabah could be paid with deposits collected through the bank.

In such a case, the solution is very simple.

The bank, in which the premier's relative holds a position, applies to the Banking and Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK) and asks for the "deposit collecting permission".

The value of the bank would rise with the granting of this permission and the loan for funds required to purchase Sabah could be paid with the capital created from the sale of this more valuable bank.

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Good plan, isn't it?

The BDDK is currently considering the application.

What is more, the general manager of the bank begins making the round of newspapers and announces that the bank would start collecting deposit before the permission has been granted.

Obviously he has some insider information that his given him this confidence.

You could say that the BDDK is an "autonomous institution," and ask how it is possible that the prime minister could have any influence over it?

Wasn’t the Radio and Television Supreme Council (RTUK) an autonomous body too?

Also the Capital Markets Board (CMB)?Â

Dengir Mir Mehmet Firat, the deputy chairman of ruling AKP, casts some aspersions for which the CMB later issues an explanation.

But the same autonomous CMB did not raise its voice when an agreement was signed that cheated Sabah's investors out of earnings.

It does nothing to protect the investors of a company under attack by the prime minister.

Didn't it make decisions under instruction from the prime minister?

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What autonomy these institutions have!

This, the arbitrary administration, is what engages the entire world's attention.

This mentality sending the message that you can take advantage for siding with the ruling power and not receive any benefits if you are opposed.

The haste and anger from the prime minister is due to the murmurings that have gradually arisen both in Turkey and around the world.

As more corruption cases are made public, his panic and desire for a one party dictatorship increases.

So, we expect the prime minister to reveal at the weekend not only the permissions he did not grant, but also those that he did.

We also expect him make public the names of the individuals heading the companies that were granted permission.