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Legalizing bribery
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On a cold Ankara day last year police ambushed the Keçiören Land Registry Office. Was it because of the cold, or were they scared of the lengthy judicial case awaiting them.
The personnel escorted out by the police were shivering. They were unable to speak, most were so ashamed with what they were accused of they were unable to raise their heads and look into the cameras of an army of journalists waiting in front of the building.
The operation was carried out after a lengthy investigation. Hidden cameras were installed in the office. Personnel, including the director, were recorded accepting bribes in exchange for speeding up registration work. The suspects were charged with establishing a gang and forcing citizens to pay bribes in exchange for getting service or speeding up the service they requested from the land registry office. The charge against the suspects was verified by testimonies from some citizens as well as with the pictures recorded by hidden cameras.
Months passed by and the case was forgotten. The nation was busy with some other important developments. In the mean time first the Land Registry Department’s director general, then the minister in charge, delivered statements to the media differentiating between receiving a bribe and receiving a tip. For both the director general and the minister the accused personnel did not receive bribes, but they were offered tips by the citizens who appreciated their outstanding performance. Thus, since accepting a tip is not a crime under the Penal Code, there was no crime indeed.
Many people thought the director general and the minister must have been joking and trying to evade questions on the "documented bribery charge" against the Keçiören Land Registry director and the majority of his personnel. This week, however, the nation learned that they were not joking indeed but just preparing the public for the release of those alleged to be involved in the massive bribery scandal.
An Ankara court, very much like the minister and the director general, ruled that there was a difference between accepting a bribe and accepting a tip. While one was a crime, the other was not. The land registry officials were offered tips. Thus, there was no crime. The accused director and his personnel were acquitted.
Tip box at state
The case is now with the Court of Appeals. Will it uphold the verdict of the lower court or ask for a retrial, we cannot say for now. However, if the Court of Appeals somehow agree with this insane mentality and upholds the verdict, then we can say for sure that the acute bribery illness that this country has been suffering for a very long time, will reach a new dimension, and in a way, will be legalized. Offering a bribe to any official at any government office and later defending that criminal act as a non-criminal, "I just gave him some money as tip," excuse will save both the one who offered the bribe and the official who received it. This, perhaps, will be the greatest service of this period to the "advancement" of the, "My civil servants know well their business" understanding that we inherited from late Turgut Özal.
Those who could remember those years would recall with "gratitude" how everything was so perfectly fixed and contractors bidding for highway, bridge, school construction or whatever else state tender knew very clearly what was the rate they were expected to contribute to the tip box, or pocket... That practice was long over and the fixed rates were all forgotten. Why waste time with bargaining over what the tip rate should be?
If you want to get the value added tax lifted on gem trade, offer some 50 percent of the business to the son and daughter-in-law of a prime minister. If you want to expand a hut on the Bosphorus from 45 square meters to 200 square meters and convert it into a luxurious patisserie, give a small percentage of the shares to the mayor of Istanbul or to his family. Such practice is of course far more ethical than buying 5 million Turkish Liras-worth of household appliances from one company without a tender and then distributing them free of charge to woo voters ahead of local polls. Let’s legalize bribery and pardon getting tips. If that happens, officials and mayors will get their tips, people will do their businesses and no one will land in court. It would be like "Alice in wonderland!"
The operation was carried out after a lengthy investigation. Hidden cameras were installed in the office. Personnel, including the director, were recorded accepting bribes in exchange for speeding up registration work. The suspects were charged with establishing a gang and forcing citizens to pay bribes in exchange for getting service or speeding up the service they requested from the land registry office. The charge against the suspects was verified by testimonies from some citizens as well as with the pictures recorded by hidden cameras.
Months passed by and the case was forgotten. The nation was busy with some other important developments. In the mean time first the Land Registry Department’s director general, then the minister in charge, delivered statements to the media differentiating between receiving a bribe and receiving a tip. For both the director general and the minister the accused personnel did not receive bribes, but they were offered tips by the citizens who appreciated their outstanding performance. Thus, since accepting a tip is not a crime under the Penal Code, there was no crime indeed.
Many people thought the director general and the minister must have been joking and trying to evade questions on the "documented bribery charge" against the Keçiören Land Registry director and the majority of his personnel. This week, however, the nation learned that they were not joking indeed but just preparing the public for the release of those alleged to be involved in the massive bribery scandal.
An Ankara court, very much like the minister and the director general, ruled that there was a difference between accepting a bribe and accepting a tip. While one was a crime, the other was not. The land registry officials were offered tips. Thus, there was no crime. The accused director and his personnel were acquitted.
Tip box at state
The case is now with the Court of Appeals. Will it uphold the verdict of the lower court or ask for a retrial, we cannot say for now. However, if the Court of Appeals somehow agree with this insane mentality and upholds the verdict, then we can say for sure that the acute bribery illness that this country has been suffering for a very long time, will reach a new dimension, and in a way, will be legalized. Offering a bribe to any official at any government office and later defending that criminal act as a non-criminal, "I just gave him some money as tip," excuse will save both the one who offered the bribe and the official who received it. This, perhaps, will be the greatest service of this period to the "advancement" of the, "My civil servants know well their business" understanding that we inherited from late Turgut Özal.
Those who could remember those years would recall with "gratitude" how everything was so perfectly fixed and contractors bidding for highway, bridge, school construction or whatever else state tender knew very clearly what was the rate they were expected to contribute to the tip box, or pocket... That practice was long over and the fixed rates were all forgotten. Why waste time with bargaining over what the tip rate should be?
If you want to get the value added tax lifted on gem trade, offer some 50 percent of the business to the son and daughter-in-law of a prime minister. If you want to expand a hut on the Bosphorus from 45 square meters to 200 square meters and convert it into a luxurious patisserie, give a small percentage of the shares to the mayor of Istanbul or to his family. Such practice is of course far more ethical than buying 5 million Turkish Liras-worth of household appliances from one company without a tender and then distributing them free of charge to woo voters ahead of local polls. Let’s legalize bribery and pardon getting tips. If that happens, officials and mayors will get their tips, people will do their businesses and no one will land in court. It would be like "Alice in wonderland!"
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