A mobster’s allegations rock Turkey’s government

SEDAT PEKERMP, the man at the centre of one of Turkey’s biggest political scandals for many years, makes an unlikely YouTube celebrity. He slurs his words, possibly as a result of too many Botox injections, wears an unbuttoned shirt, and sits behind a desk adorned with prayer beads, pages of notes and an empty lantern. Over the past month, however, Mr Peker, a convicted mobster, has had millions of Turks glued to their screens as he has settled scores with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government.His allegations, which are unproven, are explosive. In a series of videos, Mr Peker has accused the son of Mr Erdogan’s former prime minister of drug trafficking and a ruling-party of involvement in the death of a young woman. He claims to have had another politician beaten up for insulting the president and takes credit for an attack on the offices of one of the country’s biggest newspapers. He also claims the country’s interior minister, Suleyman Soylu, offered him police protection.