Just before we clambered aboard our life raft and paddled back to Blighty, we learned that the popular and dashing Mayor of Bodrum had been arrested by a detachment of Polis and carted off to jail, supposedly on bribery and corruption charges. Such transgressions are nothing new. A nod, wink and palms well-greased have made a vital contribution to the mad march of little white boxes up and down the Turkish coast (and elsewhere around the Med). When mega money meets meagre purse the outcome is often a foregone conclusion. Even the honest and the honourable can be led (or forced) into temptation by big business bullies or murderous mafia gangsters. As a vetpat of our close acquaintance remarked recently:
“If an ugly thug in a shiny suit strutted into your office, casually placed a loaded gun on the desk and made thinly veiled threats to you and your nearest and dearest, what would you do?”
However, there may be more to this Mayor’s rapid fall from grace than meets the eye. Rumours abound that he is a victim of trumped up charges because he refused to join the governing AK Party. Certainly, the arrest was carefully staged with the media in full attendance. Smile for the camera, Mr Mayor, you’re going to be on the six o’clock news. It’s not implausible. The current administration do not have a particularly tolerant attitude towards opposition. Locking people up at the drop of a fez is their forte. Is this evidence of a spiteful government tightening its grip on power or simply another a greedy public servant caught with his snout in the trough? Time will tell but neither outcome will do Turkey any favours.
Perking the Pansies 
this is awful. but still…life in bodrum is so exciting!
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Never a dull moment!
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And the problem remains that we will never know the truth. Nest featherer or innocent victim?
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It’s a real shame because I think he is a very progressive mayor.
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The rumours persist. Banners appealing for the return of the mayor (pictured at the helm of a boat) are draped all over Bodrum, as he languishes in prison. No bail – a case of guilty until proven innocent. But he’s not alone – hundreds of generals, academics, activists, lawyers and journalists are in the same ‘pre-trial detention’ boat.
http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/06/29/us-turkey-army-idINBRE85S0C620120629
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It’s got a bit silly with all these arrests but I’m told by some vetpats that it isn’t nearly as bad as the old coup days.
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Hope you’ve added your names (all four of them) to his Facebook support page. Kocadon comes from a very wealthy family. I don’t think this has anything to do with illicit financial gain.
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Will do…
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Well done for kicking that hornet’s nest 🙂 And Liza is right it’s a shame we will never know.
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Thank you
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Good article ,well done you !
Not sure if you noticed yesterday but you may be interested , a referee called Halil Dincdag came out on Turkish TV ,there is an article in the Independent about him ,very brave and well supported .His feisty comments were impressive to say the least.I do hope he stays safe.
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SORRY JACK – Forget my last comment ,I was catching up with stuff sent to me and saw it was football and also being Friday ,the end of the week I just kind of glaze over lol it is out of date from 2009 – still a good article though by you and I still hope he is safe x
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I saw the article when it first came out (so to speak). I see he’s still fighting his case through the courts and we all know how long that takes! Let’s hope he wins through in the end. http://www.kaosgl.org/page.php?id=11599
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Sounds a little murky, just like many corruption-related stories here in Jamaica. And nine times out of ten, you never get to the bottom of it, so to speak… Sounds like your former mayor is a victim of “politricks.” I do hope that the truth is revealed and that he is vindicated if he is found to be innocent. “Corruption” is such an easy label to stick on political enemies by even more corrupt labelers…
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It is murky and all too common, sadly.
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We have had so many “anti-corruption campaigns,” and all to no avail. It suits some people to be corrupt….
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Don’t we all think that everyone else’s corruption and highjinks are more interesting, that is until a juicy scandal hits home?! I don’t know which is worse: an innocent caught up in political intrigue, outright corruption or a case of ne’er-do-wells fighting it out. All are despairing…
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