corruption in Turkey

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Corruption in Turkey is an issue that affects the accession of Turkey to the European Union.{{cite journal |last1=Michael |first1=Bryane |date=5 February 2005 |title=The Role of Anti-Corruption in the Turkish Accession to the EU |url=http://turkishpolicy.com/article/123/the-role-of-anti-corruption-in-the-turkish-accession-to-the-eu-winter-2004 |journal=Turkish Policy Quarterly |volume=2004 |issue=Winter |access-date=6 April 2004}}Alan Doug, (2010) "Asking the right questions? Addressing corruption and EU accession: The case study of Turkey", Journal of Financial Crime, Vol. 17 Iss: 1, pp.9 - 21 Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index scores 180 countries according to their perceived level of public sector corruption on a scale of 0 (very corrupt) to 100 (very honest).{{Cite web |title=The ABCs of the CPI: How the Corruption Perceptions Index is calculated |url=https://www.transparency.org/en/news/how-cpi-scores-are-calculated |date=11 February 2025 |access-date=22 March 2025 |website=Transparency.org|language=en}} Since the current scale was introduced in 2012, Turkey's score has fallen from its highest score of 50 (2013) to its lowest, current score of 34 (2023 and 2024), its lowest score since the current version of the Index began in 2012. When the 180 countries in the Index were ranked by their score (with the country perceived to be most honest ranked 1), Turkey ranked 107 in 2024.{{Cite web|title=Corruption Perceptions Index 2024: Turkey |url=https://www.transparency.org/en/cpi/2024/index/tur |access-date=22 March 2025 |website=Transparency.org|date=11 February 2025 |language=en}} For comparison with regional scores, the highest score among Eastern European and Central Asian countries{{refn |Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Russia, Serbia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan |group="Note"}} was 53, the average score was 35 and the lowest score was 17.{{Cite web |title=CPI 2024 for Eastern Europe & Central Asia: Vicious cycle of weak democracy and flourishing corruption |url=https://www.transparency.org/en/news/cpi-2024-eastern-europe-central-asia--vicious-cycle-weak-democracy-flourishing-corruption |access-date=22 March 2025 |website=Transparency.org|date=11 February 2025 |language=en}} For comparison with worldwide scores, the average score was 43, the best score was 90 (ranked 1), and the worst score was 8 (ranked 180).

The 1998 Türkbank scandal led to a no-confidence vote and the resignation of Prime Minister Mesut Yılmaz. Although Yılmaz was investigated by Parliament, a five-year statute of limitations prevented further action.Zeynep Sarlak and Besim Bulent Bali (2007), [http://kops.ub.uni-konstanz.de/bitstream/handle/urn:nbn:de:bsz:352-opus-46602/Corruptionjn_Turkey.pdf?sequence=1 Corruption in Turkey:“Is the donor content when the recipient is content?!] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203011012/http://kops.ub.uni-konstanz.de/bitstream/handle/urn%3Anbn%3Ade%3Absz%3A352-opus-46602/Corruptionjn_Turkey.pdf?sequence=1 |date=2013-12-03 }}, University of Konstanz Discussion Paper Series 9.Zeynep Sarlak and Besim Bulent Bali (2008), [http://kops.ub.uni-konstanz.de/bitstream/handle/urn:nbn:de:bsz:352-opus-116452/Corruption_Sarlak.pdf Corruption in Turkey: Why cannot an urgent problem be a main concern?] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130319121245/http://kops.ub.uni-konstanz.de/bitstream/handle/urn%3Anbn%3Ade%3Absz%3A352-opus-116452/Corruption_Sarlak.pdf |date=2013-03-19 }} On 17 December 2013, the sons of three Turkish ministers and many prominent businesspeople were arrested and accused of corruption.