28.01.2026 16:31
On the second day of the first hearing of the case against the "Aziz İhsan Aktaş criminal organization," which has 200 defendants including seven mayors from the CHP, a "video" tension arose. The presiding judge announced that no more spectators would be allowed in the courtroom due to the recording of footage. Later, after hearing from Ali Mahir Başarır and Özgür Çelik, the presiding judge retracted his decision.
In the second day of the trial of the "Aziz İhsan Aktaş criminal organization," which is claimed to have organized tender processes by bribing mayors and is alleged to be led by Aziz İhsan Aktaş, tensions arose.
TRIAL "FOOTAGE" CRISIS In the trial of Aziz İhsan Aktaş held at the Istanbul 1st Heavy Penal Court, the presiding judge announced that no more spectators would be allowed into the courtroom due to footage being recorded. Later, he retracted his decision by saying to Ali Mahir Başarır and Özgür Çelik, "I have your word, if even a single image gets out, even if it's done by a lawyer, no spectators will be allowed in from now on."
ÖZGÜR ÖZEL ARRIVED IN SILIVRI On the second day of the trial, Avcılar Mayor Utku Caner Çaykara, Seyhan Mayor Oya Tekin, Ceyhan Mayor Kadir Aydar, Adana Metropolitan Mayor Zeydan Karalar, Beşiktaş Mayor Rıza Akpolat, other detained defendants, non-detained defendants, and the parties' lawyers were present after their arrests.
CHP Chairman Özgür Özel came to Silivri to follow the trial. CHP Group Deputy Chairman Ali Mahir Başarır, CHP Istanbul Provincial Chairman Özgür Çelik, and party members welcomed Özel at the door.
"THE MONEY TRANSACTION BETWEEN MY FRIEND AND ME WAS QUALIFIED AS BRIBERY" During the trial, detained defendant Adıyaman Deputy Mayor Ceyhan Kayhan, who was defending himself, stated, "Throughout my working life, I have always worked in municipalities. The work in Adıyaman was like a construction site. It was a city in a really difficult situation. I started my duty there because I thought I could be helpful. People in Adıyaman had experienced great traumas. I regret to say that in this country, evil has become so commonplace that people can lie to others without thinking for their own comfort and lives, can slander, and can ruin people's lives. I have also been in prison for eight months. I know the friend who gave a statement about me, Savaş Çetinkaya, from İzmir. He also lives in İzmir. He was working at the Altaş company in 2016. At that time, I would call him for personnel recruitment, and he would help us. Our acquaintance goes back a long way. There have been times when there was a money transaction between us. Most recently, he was with me in Ankara during my candidacy process for mayor. We were in constant contact, and he was supporting me. However, in a way I cannot understand, he has slandered me. The money transaction between me and a friend I have known for years has suddenly been qualified as a bribery transaction. There is a sum of 170,000 lira that he sent me. I am already saying that I received this money. However, a payment of 25,000 lira that I sent him is shown in the file as if I had received a bribe from him. In other words, the money I sent has been used against me as a bribe. I do not accept this. It is being portrayed as if there is a constant money transaction between us. I cannot understand how we have come to this point with such a close friend. I paid all the money I received to my friend. Despite this, this friend says he does not know me and claims that such a situation does not exist. There are so many false statements in the file that he even says we were introduced by Abdurrahman Tutdere. There is absolutely no such thing," he said.
"NO TENDERS WERE AWARDED DURING MY TERM" Kayhan continued his defense, saying, "I did not receive bribes from anyone, nor did I mediate bribes. The prosecution has based the allegation of mediating bribes on the justification of awarding a tender. We absolutely did not award any tenders. I served for a year and a half, and during this time, no tenders were awarded to the relevant company or its affiliated companies. We did not conduct tenders, we did not award tenders. Additionally, I want to explain why we did not conduct tenders. When we started our duty, cleaning vehicles were provided to our municipality by our Ministry of Environment and Urbanization, within the scope of European Union funds and through other municipalities. Garbage trucks and sweeping vehicles were delivered. As a result of the evaluation we made with our president and relevant friends, we concluded that there was no need for such a tender. Because our municipality had a sufficient number of vehicles. We decided that we could carry out this service entirely with our own municipal resources with a few vehicle reinforcements. Indeed, when our president took office, he also terminated the contracts of many previously used rental vehicles. The reason for this was to save. Our goal was to create a self-sufficient, strong municipal structure that stands on its own feet. In line with this goal, we had partially succeeded in this in Adıyaman," he said.
"THERE ARE NO TENDERS AWARDED TO AZİZ İHSAN AKTAŞ DURING MY TERM" Detained defendant Ceyhan Mayor Kadir Aydar stated in his defense at the court, "I was elected as the Mayor of Ceyhan in March 2024. There are no tenders awarded to Aziz İhsan Aktaş and his relatives from the municipalities, nor have there been any continuations of tenders that were made before my term. There are no tenders awarded to Aziz İhsan Aktaş and his relatives after I was elected mayor in 2024, and no ongoing tenders have been renewed. Payments made to the companies of İhsan Aktaş and his relatives have been carried out in accordance with the procedure. That is to say; payments owed to other companies from the municipality have also been made at the same times. Payments made to the companies of Aktaş and his relatives are not special or privileged payments. Other companies that have receivables from the municipality have also received their payments in the same way. Aktaş claims that he gave a bribe by saying he bought an apartment worth 4 million lira for 20 million lira. However, again on the dates of July 25-26, when Aktaş claims he negotiated the sale of the apartment with my father, the total receivable of his relatives' companies from the municipality is only 1.5 million lira. In August, when the deed was taken, the receivable amount is again 1.5 million lira. Aziz İhsan Aktaş claims he gave 300,000 dollars in November. At that time, his companies had no receivables from the municipality. Would a person pay 20 million lira for a receivable of 1.5 million lira? Would a company with no receivables in November pay 300,000 dollars for collection? Is the bribe made in July paid four months later? In other words, can there be credit bribery? As a result of the investigations conducted by the prosecution, as stated in the indictment, it has been determined that the value of an apartment is 7.5 million lira. According to the value determination made by the prosecution, the total value of these two apartments has been determined to be 15 million lira.
These apartments consist of two independent sections, transformed into a single apartment, extremely luxurious, custom-designed, and fully furnished. These apartments, which the prosecutor's indictment states are valued at a total of 15 million lira in their bare form, were sold by my father to Aziz İhsan Aktaş for a price of 15-16 million lira in a fully furnished and specially designed state. Aziz İhsan Aktaş, in his statement, claimed that he purchased these apartments for 20 million lira. He alleges that he paid this 20 million in the form of 4 million lira in the title deed, plus an additional 6 million lira and 300 thousand dollars,' he said.
"THE INDICTMENT STATES 2022-2023, I WAS ELECTED IN 2024" Detained defendant Seyhan Mayor Oya Tekin stated, "I stand before you as the elected will of the Seyhan people, a population of one million. However, more importantly, I am here as a lawyer with 35 years of experience. Throughout my professional life as a lawyer, I have always paid attention to historical cases. I want to emphasize two particular points here. Yesterday, we appeared in court. We came as mayors, as detainees. During the trial, we had no opportunity to follow the press or receive news. After we went downstairs, we could not even meet with our lawyers. The issue of food is the same. We asked, 'Can we have a cup of tea?'; these are extremely basic human needs. However, none of these were possible. I want you to evaluate all of this as follows: the right to defense is a very sacred right. For years, I have been a vehicle for people's quest for rights with great faith. However, while using this sacred right to defense, we could not even get a cup of tea or coffee yesterday. I learned from the press yesterday that Aziz İhsan Aktaş, who is being tried for leading an organization, came to the hearing with his private vehicle and bodyguards. I am the Mayor of Seyhan. My spouse is a freelance lawyer in Adana. My spouse goes to Ankara to meet with Aziz İhsan Aktaş. Aziz İhsan Aktaş has a receivable from the municipality, but he cannot collect this receivable. He says, 'We cannot get this.' Then he asks for money and allegedly gives one million dollars to my spouse. Some politicians are also mentioned here, of course. This is my crime. Excuse me, this is the alleged crime. Neither does Aziz İhsan Aktaş say that he met with me, nor is there any conversation about me there, nor is my name mentioned in the statements. Nevertheless, I am included in the indictment in parentheses. So what is the crime? Receiving a bribe. The indictment only mentions the years 2022-2023. I was elected on March 31, 2024. I am talking about a nine-month period of detention. The indictment mentions payments made. The prosecutor states that 220 million TL has been identified. Look at the formed opinion: 'After Oya Tekin was elected mayor from the Republican People's Party, this amount corresponds to 10-11% of the total receivables of the municipality,' says the Prosecutor. Normally, you would ask the question, but here I want to ask a question: What is this 10-11%? I do not know this. Look at the reasoning that creates sufficient suspicion and opinion. It is entirely based on personal feelings, emotions, and interpretations. I really wanted to get an answer to this. Because I still cannot explain this to myself," he expressed.
A one-hour break was given to the hearing at 12:50. The hearing resumed at 14:20 with the defense of detained defendant Seyhan Mayor Oya Tekin's spouse, Celal Tekin.
"AZIZ İHSAN AKTAŞ MADE PERSISTENT REQUESTS REGARDING HIS RECEIVABLES" In his defense, detained defendant Seyhan Mayor Oya Tekin's spouse, Celal Tekin, stated, "They claim that I took bribes, that I gave money, that I committed crimes. It is really interesting that these allegations are voiced and taken seriously by a prosecutor, a lawyer. I did not know Aziz İhsan Aktaş beforehand. He wanted to meet by involving politicians, friends, and colleagues who know my spouse in both Ankara and Adana. When he could not find this opportunity with my spouse, he then wanted to meet and get to know me. In my research, I learned that he primarily worked with institutions and organizations affiliated with the AK Party, such as the Supreme Court, Elazığ, Kütahya, Isparta, and Aydın. During this process, I met and got to know him. In this introduction, he only came to state that his relatives had receivables from the municipality and that they could not collect these receivables. I expressed that I do not interfere in municipal affairs and directed him to the relevant departments of the municipality. Afterwards, Aziz İhsan Aktaş called me again and made persistent requests regarding his receivables. He sent me messages stating that no payment was made to him and that this situation could not continue. I continuously told him that I had no personal debt and that the payment should be requested from the municipality. I do not know Ankara very well. We had a brief meeting at a place he designated. He expressed to me that his relatives were in a difficult situation, that they needed to receive payments, that their companies were on the verge of bankruptcy, and that their patience had run out. I told him that Ms. Oya had just started her new position, that the financial difficulties of municipalities are known to everyone, and that despite this, he was constantly sending his staff to create incidents, and that he needed to prevent this. I stated that if there are legal receivables, they will definitely be collected, and that the methods for this are clear. After this meeting, I went to the Municipal Bank. I met with the unit manager for about two hours. During this meeting, my identity information was given to the consultancy at the entrance, and my registration was made. This situation can be verified from there. I clearly stated all this information in my first statement while there was a confidentiality order in the file and there were no HTS records. However, the prosecutor twisted this meeting in completely different directions, resulting in an agreement, money collection, and payment from the municipality without my spouse's knowledge and guidance. Although this issue is contrary to reason, logic, and law, it has been turned into an ugly text, so I want to respond to each of them one by one. Neither I nor my spouse gives orders to each other or provides guidance. Moreover, when looking at the scope of the file, there is no allegation that I met with my spouse or that an agreement was reached. My spouse's name is mentioned only in parentheses in the indictment and statements. It is clear that this parenthesis cannot be established by the accuser, cannot be conceived; it is a completely added element aimed at removing the mayorship, which can be understood even by those with the simplest legal knowledge," he said.
ALLEGATION OF BRIBERY IN A KADAYIF BOX Metin Aktaş's lawyer asked Celal Tekin, "Did Aziz İhsan Aktaş give you dollars in 3 kadayıf boxes, and did you not gift him 1 box of cezerye in return?"
Celal Tekin responded, "Such an allegation is neither present in the indictment nor in the statements. Do not ask such a question again," he said. Celal Tekin's lawyer also objected to the question.
AZIZ IHSAN AKTAS TOOK THE FLOOR Aziz Ihsan Aktas, who requested the floor from the presiding judge, said, "Mr. Celal said that I put an intermediary to meet with him. Who are these intermediaries? He said there are receivables numbered 18 and 19 for the 75 million paid. Does a person pay off an old debt or a new one?" Celal Tekin replied to Aziz Ihsan Aktas, "He has mobilized different channels, involved anyone he could. He has an office in Adana as well. There are directors and staff within the municipality. Therefore, when they couldn't work with these people, they somehow reached out to me; they involved politicians and brought many people from every circle into the matter. As for the second issue, as my wife said, it is not possible to make a payment by pressing a button. I mean, is it possible to pay 75 million lira with a single meeting? Who would believe that?" he said.
Source: ANKA, DHA
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