Whatever else Turkey does, if it wants its economy to flourish, it must control corruption. For decades, sleaze and authorised theft have undermined the economic life of the country. And this is a fish that has rotted from the head. When asked how she was able to afford an apartment block in Florida, Tansu Ciller, who served as prime minister in 1993-95, said that she had found some of the money wrapped in a bundle in her mother's bedroom. Other former prime ministers stand accused of manipulating the sale of state assets for their benefit. On New Year's Eve last year, Murat De-mirel, the one-time owner of Egebank and a nephew of a former president, Suleyman Demirel, was picked up by the Bulgarian authorities from a small fishing boat that was trying to land on Bulgaria's Black Sea coast. He had been barred from leaving Turkey while investigations into the collapse of Egebank were going on. He is said to have offered the Bulgarian coastguard ?100,000 ($136,000) to let him go, but the man would not take a bribe. In asking for his extradition, Turkey told the Bulgarian authorities that Egebank's collapse had caused financial losses of $1.2 billion. Mr Demirel was duly sent back to await trial.
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