Tainted politician returns

last updated 8 January 2015

Ankara, Turkey

Turkey’s high court this week suspended a corruption case against former Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz, who promptly announced that he would return to politics. Yilmaz was accused of rigging the privatization of Turkbank, in a scandal that brought down his government in 1998. But the court said there wasn’t enough evidence to proceed with a prosecution. Under the ruling, the charges will be dropped altogether unless a new case is filed within five years. Yilmaz said the decision proves he did nothing wrong, and he said he would waste no time before jump-starting his career. “Beginning today,” he said, “I will start making contacts.”