ANKARA
The Turkish parliament has rejected the main opposition Republican People's Party's motion to open four parliamentary inquiries to investigate separately the corruption allegations regarding four former ministers.
Former Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan, Interior Minister Muammer Guler and Urbanization Minister Erdogan Bayraktar resigned from their posts after an anti-graft probe was launched on December 17 last year and EU minister Egemen Bagis was discharged in a cabinet reshuffle.
Turkish lawmakers overwhelmingly voted early Tuesday against CHP's setting up of a parliamentary investigation into the former ministers. However, the Turkish parliament agreed on the motion to conduct the setting up of a single parliamentary inquiry committee, to oversee all the claims against the former ministers that will consist of 16 lawmakers and issue a report at the end of a two-month investigation.
The December 17 probe saw the detention of the sons of the three former ministers - Guler, Bayraktar, and Caglayan - as well as high profile businessmen and the head of the state-owned lender Halkbank. Those detained were later released pending trial. Three of the ministers had resigned from their posts and the fourth one was replaced in a cabinet reshuffle after December 17.
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