ANKARA, July 22 (AFP) - Turkey's constitutional court Thursday rejected a parliamentary decision to try two former ministers for fraud, citing procedural flaws, Anatolia news agency reported.
The Turkish parliament last month voted for putting former deputy prime minister Husamettin Ozkan and former economy minister Recep Onal on trial for allegedly causing giant losses to a public bank they oversaw by neglecting their duties and failing to take necessary measures on time.
They are also accused of allowing a climate to flourish in which irregular transactions took place at Halkbank during their terms between 1997 and 2000.
The deputy head of the court, Hasim Kilic, said the judges unanimously rejected the case because parliament had decided in favor of putting the two ministers on trial in a single vote, whereas separate votes should have been held for each of them, Anatolia reported.
The parliament may now reconsider the issue after it returns from summer recess in September.
The case is part of a parliamentary investigation into alleged large-scale fraud in tenders, sell-offs, banking reforms and energy projects over the past decade that have reportedly cost Turkey billions of dollars (euros).
The constitutional court is also to rule later on parliamentary decisions to try four other ex-ministers, including former Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz.
The anti-corruption drive was launched by the ruling Justice and Development Party, which came to power in 2002 with pledges to stamp out chronic corruption in Turkey, seen by many as one of the core reasons for the economic woes that have plagued the country.