ANKARA (AFP) – The Supreme Court here yesterday acquitted former Construction Minister Koray Aydin of corruption charges related to building projects that followed deadly earthquakes in northwest Turkey in 1999.

Aydin went on trial in 2005, accused of rigging public tenders and personally enriching himself as he hand-picked companies close to his Nationalist Action Party to carry out reconstruction work after two quakes that claimed more than 20,000 lives.

He was the last of several ex-ministers parliament sent to the Supreme Court after the Islamist-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power in 2002 with pledges to stamp out corruption.

The charges were brought after a parliamentary inquiry into claims of alleged large-scale fraud in tenders, sell-offs, banking reforms and energy projects over the past decade that reportedly cost Turkey billions of dollars.

Speaking outside the courthouse, Aydin hailed the ruling, saying it “shattered this attempt at political lynching.” Aydin was a member of a three-way coalition that governed Turkey between 1999 and 2002 under the late center-left Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit.

Among those who appeared before the Supreme Court were three-time Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz and former Economy Minister Gunes Taner, who saw charges against them dropped under an amnesty law enacted in 2000.

In July, former Energy Minister Cumhur Ersumer was sentenced to 20 months for rigging a public tender but the sentence was suspended.

Three other ex-ministers were acquitted and the trial of a fourth ended without a verdict, again under the 2000 amnesty law.

The AKP, which was re-elected in July, has come under fire for failing to address allegations of fraud among its own ranks, targeting notably Finance Minister Kemal Unakitan and the party’s local administrations.