Turkish Minister Targets Newspaper Publishing News On Alleged State-Mafia Relations

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 11th May, 2021) Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu on Tuesday targeted the Turkish daily opposition newspaper Cumhuriyet for publishing news on alleged ties between the Turkish ruling AK Party and alleged mafia boss Sedat Peker.

Cumhuriyet has recently published news on alleged relationship between Turkish officials and mafia. One of these news included the photo of General Commander of the Turkish Gendarmerie Arif Cetin with a mafia leader. Cumhuriyet's report, published on Monday, also claimed that the government and Soylu turned a blind eye to the illegal activities of Peker.

"Cumhuriyet newspaper, your history is one of deep, dirty and shady relations. Upon the nonsensical words of mafia scum, you throw mud at one of the most glorious commanders in our history of fighting against terrorism and take revenge for your partners HDPKK [the Peoples' Democratic Party and Kurdistan Workers' Party]. Turkey is not what it used to be. You'll answer in court," the minister said on Twitter.

Peker is a Turkish convict of mob-related crimes, whose whereabouts are currently unknown. On April 9, Peker's villa in Istanbul was raided as part of an operation against a criminal gang allegedly under his control. The alleged mafia boss claims of previously having deep ties with some officials of the ruling party. Over the past weeks, he started to share videos on his YouTube channel with allegations against the Turkish ruling party and officials. According to one such allegation, AK Party lawmaker Tolga Agar killed a woman and covered it up.