Mansur Yavaş, whose eyes are turned away, roared: "Before Gökçek and his family go to prison..."

24.09.2025 15:20

After the concert operation directed at the municipality, Ankara Metropolitan Mayor Mansur Yavaş made statements to the press but did not provide a concrete expression regarding the allegations. Referring to the past, Yavaş stated, "Justice cannot be discussed as long as Gökçek and his family are not tried, imprisoned, and held accountable for their actions."

In an operation carried out yesterday against the Ankara Metropolitan Municipality, 13 people were detained. In a statement from the municipality, it was noted that a detailed assessment of the matter would be made by Mayor Mansur Yavaş.

"COMPARE THE MERCEDES VEHICLE WITH MERCEDES"

Yavaş stated in a press conference, "As soon as the incident came to light, we applied to the inspection board. Each case was examined one by one. In our inspection, no public damage was found. Our inspectors came and conducted investigations. They formed an expert committee. I determined that their area of expertise had nothing to do with this issue. They prepared an expert report. The inspection board also sent the file to the prosecutor's office. The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office has also initiated a new investigation and identified an expert committee. The expert committee is explaining the report announced to the public based on the report prepared by the previous expert. If you are going to compare, compare the Mercedes vehicle with Mercedes. It is impossible for someone who has not dealt with these matters to act as an expert," he said.

"WE WANT JUSTICE"

Continuing his remarks, Yavaş said, "We do not know what this report was based on. This stage would have been set up for 3-5 million. You see the stage; each element has a separate cost. Screens, projectors, etc. Could it have been cheaper? Yes, it could have been. 146 people worked at the concert for 15-20 days. There are very specialized personnel. Some earn between 20,000-100,000 lira per day. They have accommodation costs. All the equipment arrived with 20 trucks. We want justice. How is justice established? You can get the figures from similar organizations, and you can obtain the files of the work done. When you ask the company that did this, if they say Ankara Metropolitan Municipality did it more expensively, those who did it will face consequences. But if the figures are the same, sorry, there is a right to not be tarnished. That is why we want justice," he said.

"IF THEY HAVE DONE IT EXPENSIVELY, THEY WILL FACE THE CONSEQUENCES"

Yavaş continued: "Give it to the experts, examine it, and if there is a guilty party, let them face the consequences. If they have done it expensively, they will face the consequences; if they haven't, they will be acquitted. They were taken from their homes in the early morning. They have been working in the municipality for years. Did you call them for a statement and they didn't come? This method needs to be eliminated in Turkey. The same treatment was given to our mayors. You do not have the right to take people, including the Mayor of Yahşihan, who you can call and take their statements, abruptly. Because there is a right to not be tarnished. You will present the evidence, and if there is any, they will face the consequences.

"JUSTICE CANNOT BE TALKED ABOUT UNTIL GÖKÇEK GOES TO PRISON"

There are even more serious incidents related to this case. When asked, 'Who is the biggest thief in Ankara?' someone tweeted saying 'I am,' and then there was an operation in the early morning... When he saw the reaction, he said he didn't mean that. Justice cannot be talked about at all until Gökçek and his family are held accountable for their actions and go to prison.

"THEY COULDN'T FIND ANYTHING ON ME"

The true wall cannot be destroyed. I have been serving in public office since 1999. If they could find even the slightest thing about me, wouldn't they do everything they could? I have not undergone a single investigation. The Disinformation Center is trying to discredit me by distributing news everywhere, while I am not even in this file. We came to show that Ankara can be managed in a completely clean and honest way. We will not steal, and we will not let anyone steal.

"WE WILL CONTINUE TO CELEBRATE SPECIAL DAYS"

They say, 'Oh, they spent the money on concerts.' Is there a municipality that does not hold concerts? We especially want to celebrate our national days very strongly. The area we celebrate is where our capital was established. Please look at the budget we spent. The money we spent is 0.4% of our budget. We will continue to celebrate our national days together, side by side, with the Turkish people with whom we share the same feelings.

We have nearly 100 complaints regarding the Gökçek era files, alleging tender rigging and public damage. In 55 of them, a decision of non-prosecution was given after obtaining an expert report. In 11 of them, a decision of non-prosecution was given without obtaining an expert report. In 11 others, an indictment was prepared. They will be tried, and after the court finalizes the sentence, we will be able to call those people guilty. Two of these files are those in which Melih Gökçek is a party. No action was taken on some of them. So why did this happen?

"THE EXPERTS ARE ALWAYS THE SAME"

There are exactly 4,000 experts in Ankara. However, somehow all our complaints went to the same experts. The last expert who found public damage is one of them. The person who exonerates them is the same person who accuses us.

The municipality's money went to Gökçek's son's football passion. He needs to give the boy a job. His father bought him a football team. By awarding tenders to some companies and also giving the excavation revenue, a significant income for the municipality, to Osmanlıspor. Mr. Mustafa Tuna ended this as soon as he arrived. We complained about the excavation file as soon as we arrived, and a decision of non-prosecution was issued. Our lawyer submitted it four times. A decision of non-prosecution was given because there was no signature from Melih Gökçek. How much public damage does it take for you to detain and arrest these people?

We complained about ANKA Park. The prosecutor's office requested permission for an investigation, but Süleyman Soylu did not grant it. We appealed to the Council of State. The Council of State said, 'The allegations need to be examined one by one.' It sent it back. The court did not do this, gave a decision of non-prosecution, and passed. We appealed to the peace court. We went for a request to overturn by legal means. Our file is waiting in the courthouse. I do not know when they will send it to the Ministry of Justice.

They planned a cable car. Do you know who they awarded it to? They awarded it to the deputy chairman of the AK Party, who is currently in office. He starts work, and they illegally extended the tender, which was supposed to be completed in 240 days, to 1500 days. He abandoned the place. We investigated. The person who prepared this project turned out to be an employee of that company.

I have one more thing to say about Melih Gökçek. We remember the July 15 coup attempt. Most of the council members are fugitives due to FETÖ. Complaints are made. While everyone is being tried, nothing is done to him. It seems that the reason for his removal from office is that the President asked him to resign. He hesitated and finally resigned. By 2018, he was conducting investigations. He was conducting phone tap investigations regarding me. Nothing was found. You cannot talk about justice in this country without Gökçek and his family being tried for FETÖ.

"THEY WENT ON UMRA WITH THE MUNICIPALITY'S MONEY"

They went on Umrah with the municipality's money. There is no small or large public damage; how could you reconcile going on Umrah with that haram money? If my closest friend or brother were involved in corruption, I would hold them accountable. Gökçek, that house you are illegally sitting in, is identified by a court decision. Come out of that house. Come on out! You won't be left homeless. The boy is building a house; he will let you stay in one of the floors. Return to the people of Ankara. There are two books full of corruption, and there is not a single trial. We have nothing to be tried for. We want the investigation into the concert to be conducted in the fairest way possible.

We want justice to be applied equally to everyone.