18 August 2011 /TODAY’S ZAMAN
İstanbul prosecutor Mehmet Berk, who is spearheading the ongoing match-fixing investigation in Turkish football, has responded with “lightning” speed to a letter of complaint Fenerbahçe Chairman Aziz Yıldırım (surname translated as “lightning”) sent to President Abdullah Gül and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan through his attorney Abdullah Kaya on Wednesday.
The Fenerbahçe boss, currently being held at İstanbul’s Metris Prison pending further investigation, claimed in the letter that Berk had told him he was going to arrest someone more famous than Yıldırım. “Prosecutor Berk said, ‘I am going to arrest someone more famous.’ Who is that person and why has he not been summoned for interrogation or arrested yet?” part of the letter read. In response Berk stated that this was nothing other than wild speculation. “No comments or evaluations have been made with regards to the last five matches [of the 2010-11 season], which are under investigation. This is the fact. Anything to the contrary is wild speculation, unfounded rumor.” He continued: “The aim of this unfounded rumor is try to put pressure on the prosecutors [and prosecutor’s office] and also to sway public opinion.”
