Recent corruption scandals and the ensuing investigations have once again revealed the need for a transparent and accountable legislative system in politics as well as in public administration!

All around the world in developed democracies, the asset declarations of politicians and senior bureaucrats are open to the public! Even in countries such as Russia, Ukraine, Bolivia, Uganda, Algeria, Thailand and many more - countries with high levels of perceived corruption that are faced with challenges regarding democracy - politicians’ asset declarations are accessible online. As such, Turkey lacks the basic mechanisms needed for transparency and integrity in governance.

Turkey urgently needs a system which holds public authorities accountable and makes asset declarations more transparent and open to monitoring. This system must enable citizens to participate in monitoring and provide an effective audit mechanism, thus establishing an approach to governance which prevents corruption and bribery.

In Turkey, a law aiming to prevent corruption and bribery and to regulate the asset declaration procedure has been in force since 1990: Law number 3628 on Asset Declaration, Bribery and the Fight Against Corruption.

Yet do Turkish people have access to any asset declarations by the politicians, senior public officers, media owners or editors-in-chief who are supposed to declare their wealth? The answer is probably not…

Because this Law states that asset declarations must be kept confidential!

An asset declaration can only be audited only if there is an investigation about the public officer submitted the declaration. Without proper investigation to check their content, the confidentiality of asset declarations, secret files and a lack of auditing contribute to the culture of secrecy in our country and thereby jeopardize public welfare as a whole.

To prevent corruption and establish a clean political and public administrative system founded on integrity, transparency and accountability thefollowing is required:

- Asset declarations by the people who are legally bound to declare their assets - elected public officials, ministers, members of parliament, senior bureaucrats, political party leaders, newspaper owners and editors-in-chief - should be shared with the public.

- An official website compiling asset declarations should be established and the data should be open to the public and updated regularly.

- Asset declarations should be submitted annually and audited and monitored regularly for significant changes.

Ensuring transparency in asset declarations and enabling the monitoring and auditing of the relevant data are also of critical importance for Turkey to fulfil its commitments in the international arena.