29.01.2026 13:40
The trial of the "Saint İhsan Aktaş criminal organization" continues on its third day with the defendants' statements. Detained defendant and Avcılar Mayor Utku Caner Çaykara stated in his defense, "Updates have been made to the signature directive, and the signature authority of the tender official has been delegated to the directorates. When the tender is examined in previous processes, it will be seen that the tender authority and signature authority were with the deputy mayors." While Çaykara was making his defense, his mother could not hold back her tears.
The trial of the "Aziz İhsan Aktaş criminal organization," which is alleged to have influenced tender processes by bribing mayors and led by Aziz İhsan Aktaş, has entered its third day. The court is currently hearing the defendants' defenses around 11:00 AM.
During the trial, Avcılar Mayor Utku Caner Çaykara, Seyhan Mayor Oya Tekin, Ceyhan Mayor Kadir Aydar, Adana Metropolitan Mayor Zeydan Karalar, Beşiktaş Mayor Rıza Akpolat, and other detained defendants, along with non-detained defendants and the parties' lawyers, were present.
While detained defendant Avcılar Mayor Utku Caner Çaykara was making his defense, his mother was seen in tears.
"THE SALE WAS MADE TO PAY BELTAŞ'S DEBTS TO BEŞİKTAŞ MUNICIPALITY"
Önder Gedik, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Beltaş, a subsidiary of Beşiktaş Municipality, stated in his defense, "I was detained while I was the Chairman of the Board of Beltaş and subsequently arrested. I was appointed as the Chairman of the Board of Beltaş on May 7, 2024. Before this position, I served as a member of the Beşiktaş Municipality Council for the last two terms. It appears that the reason cited for my arrest and accusations is the sale of a hospital building owned by Beltaş. I did not gain any material or moral benefit from these sales transactions. Indeed, in the accusations against me, there is no concrete and clear claim regarding any benefit or personal gain directed at me. Nevertheless, I categorically deny the allegations regarding any irregularities I may have committed or been involved in concerning the hospital sale. The sale was conducted in accordance with the law and in the public interest, and it was made to pay Beltaş's debts to Beşiktaş Municipality. In June 2021, I was called to the municipality by the deputy mayor responsible for financial affairs. During the meeting, it was expressed to me that the properties previously allocated to Beltaş by the municipality could not be considered the same capital, and even if rent were to be applied retroactively, Beltaş did not have the capacity to pay this debt, and therefore some properties belonging to Beltaş, especially the hospital building in question, needed to be sold," he said.
"RIZA AKPOLAT STATED THAT HE WAS AWARE OF THIS SALE"
In the continuation of his defense, Gedik stated, "Ozan İş said that the sale of the property in Beşiktaş should be done with the knowledge of Rıza Akpolat. After this conversation, I called Mayor Rıza Akpolat. He stated that he was aware of this sale. He also said that he would provide the necessary information after the sale transaction was completed. The sale process was managed by Ozan İş and Mustafa Mutlu. Mustafa Mutlu stated that there was no obligation for a tender for the sale transaction, but for the sake of transparency, it would be appropriate to conduct the sale through a tender. Therefore, the sale transaction was carried out through a tender. I deny the allegations that there was no Board of Directors decision during the sale process. The relevant decisions were made before the sale. Decisions were made and signed by the board members. Although the board decision dated July 3 was notarized on July 8, the decisions dated July 4 and 5 were found suspicious by the prosecution for not being notarized. For this reason, the relevant decision was notarized. The relevant board decisions were made and personally signed by the board members. I signed the board decisions at the Beltaş building. There is no possibility that these documents were signed elsewhere, filled out later, or created retroactively. I do not accept the accusation of forgery based on the claim that there was no notarization by the prosecution. I carried out the transfer as the chairman of the board. I met Aziz İhsan Aktaş on the day of the sale. The 70 million lira obtained from the sale has been sent to Beşiktaş Municipality for salary payments. The remaining approximately 400 million lira has been transferred to the municipality accounts in offset against Beltaş's debts. In the valuation conducted by the prosecution, it was determined that the sale was made above the normal market value. No unjust benefit was obtained. During my term as the Chairman of the Board of Beltaş, I acted in the public interest," he stated.
CONFIRMED RIZA AKPOLAT'S AWARENESS
In response to the court president's question, "In your first statement, you said Rıza Akpolat was not aware, but in your statement dated July 1, you said Rıza Akpolat was informed. Which one is true?" Gedik stated that his statement dated July 1 was correct. When the court president asked, "Did you know before the sale that there was a restriction in the title deed stating that the sold property could not be used as a hospital?" Gedik replied that he was not aware of this situation.
"I PERFORMED THREE MARRIAGES AND WOKE UP AS A SERIOUS CRIMINAL"
Avcılar Mayor Utku Caner Çaykara, in his defense, stated, "On May 31, 2025, I was detained at my home by the Financial Branch in a dawn operation. We were kept in uncertainty for three days. During this time, no questions were asked. While being taken for a health check, we were kept in a single file for minutes. It was as if a production was being carried out, and every moment of ours was recorded and served to the press. We were tried to be declared guilty in the eyes of society.
The situation where I performed three marriages and woke up the next day as a serious criminal deeply saddened both my family and me. There is much to say; however, all I can say is this: May God not let anyone experience this situation.
"I WAS ARRESTED DESPITE NOT BEING A PUBLIC OFFICIAL AT THE TIME OF THE INCIDENT"
Avcılar Mayor Utku Caner Çaykara made his defense for the first time in court. In his defense, Çaykara stated, "On May 11, 2025, I was asked about a statement of effective remorse given by Aziz İhsan Aktaş, which included my name and election campaign. The statement is as follows, and I would like to read it verbatim in your presence: 'Beşiktaş Deputy Mayor Alican Abacı requested money and vehicles to be used in the election campaign of Utku Caner Çaykara, the Republican People's Party candidate for Avcılar Municipality, in exchange for the accumulated receivables from Beşiktaş Municipality that my brothers and relatives could receive.' I clearly stated in both my police statement and my prosecution interrogation that I had no knowledge or involvement in such a matter at a time when my candidacy was announced only 39 days before the election, that the local election processes were extremely intense and exhausting for candidates, that local election campaigns turned into large organizations involving hundreds, even thousands of party members and citizens, that we worked day and night in the field, that I was at a point where I could even lose my health during this process, and that we were carrying the election on a knife's edge, with no certainty of whether we would win or lose.""Despite all these statements, I was unlawfully arrested and sent to Silivri Prison regarding the entitlements of another municipality, even though I was not a public official at the time of the incident," he said.
"THE AUTHORITY TO TENDER AND SIGNATURE AUTHORITY BELONGS TO THE VICE MAYORS"
Continuing his defense, Çaykara said, "Why was not a single question asked to Aziz İhsan Aktaş regarding the tenders? So much so that as a result of the statement, it was concluded that there was coercion and corruption. The statement of effective remorse regarding Beşiktaş Municipality was completely altered, and a bribery relationship was established concerning the Avcılar Municipality tender for the future. As can be seen in the signature directive organized by our previous mayor, updates were made to the signature directive by the previous mayor on February 21, 2021, and the signature authority of the tender authority was transferred to the directorates. When the tender is examined in previous processes, it will be clearly seen that the authority to tender and the signature authority belong to the vice mayors. In other words, the mayor has never had signature authority in tenders. When we look at the tender files, the situation is extremely clear. In both tender files, when you look at the members of the tender commission, it will be seen that the tender commissions of both tenders consist of different individuals. While the average tender breakdown rate across Turkey is around 9%, the tender in question was carried out with a 13% breakdown. This 13% breakdown corresponds to approximately 12.5 million lira. No public loss has occurred, no benefit has been provided to the company, and the work has been completed flawlessly. As can be seen in the documents I presented, there is a large-scale penalty imposed on the company. This penalty is 1 million 300 thousand lira. This penalty is just one of the penalties we imposed and is the largest one. Even in this process, which is not subject to any audit, not the slightest concession was given to the company that is alleged to have been involved in corruption; an amount equal to about a quarter of the alleged bribe was imposed as a penalty in a single instance," he said.
MOTHER ÇAYKARA COULDN'T HOLD BACK HER TEARS
During the defense of Avcılar Mayor Utku Caner Çaykara, his mother Aslı Çaykara could not hold back her tears. CHP Istanbul Provincial Chairman Özgür Çelik hugged mother Çaykara to offer support.
After the defenses, the hearing was adjourned for 1 hour.
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