Former Turkish prime minister Mesut Yilmaz rejected charges of corruption as he went on trial Wednesday over a banking scandal with alleged Mafia involvement, becoming the first head of government to be tried by the Supreme Court. Yilmaz, a three time prime minister and former chairman of the centre-right Motherland Party (ANAP), is charged with fraud in the bungled 1998 privatisation of the state-run Turkbank, which brought down his government.

The 58-year-old politician is on trial with his former economy minister Gunes Taner, 56, after the parliament, dominated by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), voted to send them to court following a lengthy house inquiry into corruption allegations in the last decade.

Yilmaz denied that he had rigged Turkbank's privatisation for a pre-determined winner and argued he was unaware that an underworld figure had intervened in the process to scare off other bidders.

"There was no meddling whatsoever on my part as a prime minister," Yilmaz said, arguing that other government agencies were in charge of the tender process.

The charges are part of a "politically-motivated conspiracy," he said.

Yilmaz conceded he had met briefly with the controversial businessman who later won the tender, but claimed he was unaware of his underworld ties.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2005