17.08.2026 18:01
Details have been obtained of the statements given by Alihan Kuris, the leader of the structure publicly known as 'Suleymancilar,' who was arrested on charges of 'money laundering,' 'fraud,' and 'forming a criminal organization,' during his time in police custody and at the prosecutor's office. In his statements, Kuris declared that his monthly income was approximately 380 thousand lira and said that his income consisted of his company salary and rental earnings, while his assets were too numerous to count.
In the investigation carried out by the Ankara Republic Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, coordinated with the Ankara Provincial Police Department's Financial Crimes Unit and supported by the Istanbul Police Department, notable details emerged from the police and prosecutor's office statements of Alihan Kuris, who faces charges of organization leadership, qualified fraud, violating the Tax Procedure Law, and laundering assets derived from crime.
DECLARED MONTHLY INCOME OF 380 THOUSAND TL: THREE-STORY HOUSE, LAND, OFFICE SHARE, AND COMPANY PARTNERSHIPS REVEALED
Kuris said his monthly income was approximately 380 thousand TL, consisting of his salary from the company and rental income.
When asked about his assets, he stated that in addition to real estate inherited from his father, he had a share in an office building in Sakarya Erenler, a three-story house he owned in Camlica, approximately 450 square meters of land held jointly with family members in Kisikli, and a 2008 model Mercedes car.
He said there was approximately 650 thousand TL in his personal account at Is Bankasi, as far as he remembered.
Kuris also stated that he was a 51% shareholder of Altun Mimarlik Insaat and had previously held a 49% share in ELF Yapi. In contrast, it was noted that a total of 191 real estate records were found registered in the name of the Kuris family within the scope of the investigation.
"I AM AN OPINION LEADER"
The statements of the leader of the Suleymancis, Alihan Kuris, along with the MASAK determinations read to him, revealed the striking money movements in the file and the discrepancies between some of Kuris's answers and official records. Kuris rejected all the charges against him, describing the investigation as an "assassination of reputation." Introducing himself to the prosecutor's office with the words, "I am the grandson, heir, and representative of Suleyman Hilmi Tunahan,” Kuris said, "Those who love him love me; I am an opinion leader."
IT WAS SEEN THAT THERE WAS NOT A SINGLE GSM LINE REGISTERED IN ALIHAN KURIS'S NAME
Another striking detail in Kuris's interrogation was his communication method. In the section of the prosecution statement containing identity information, the note "He has no active GSM number" was recorded. Kuris, who also told the police that he had no GSM line registered in his name, claimed that he usually used the office phone, but he did not clearly remember the office number at that moment.
Stating that he communicated through the GSM lines of family members, Kuris also maintained that there was no phone line registered in someone else's name that he used.
WHEN ASKED ABOUT THE PEOPLE CLOSEST TO HIM, HE ANSWERED "I DON'T KNOW THEM"
While Kuris described himself as an "opinion leader" to the prosecutor, a long list of about 50 names was presented to him within the scope of the investigation. Kuris answered for many names, "I don't know them," "I have heard the name," or "I saw them a few times."
He described some names as "hocaefendi," "preacher," "a person working at the foundation," or "a person I know from social circles."
Saying he had seen many people at the Umraniye Gumussoy Foundation, Kuris nevertheless maintained that he had no connection with the foundation in question. He also clearly stated that his commercial activities with his brother Hilmi Tuna Kuris were ongoing.
"SLANDER, FIGMENT OF THE IMAGINATION"
One of the most serious allegations made against Kuris at the prosecutor's office was the statement of Rustem Sahin that entered the file. In Sahin's statement, it was alleged that after Kuris took over the leadership of the organization, he pressured community members, especially the managers of commercial institutions and dormitories, for "absolute obedience" and managed the organization through a group of people close to him.
Kuris, however, stating that he did not know Rustem Sahin, said: "I absolutely do not accept this statement. It is a slander against me; it is a figment of the imagination."
HE SAID "I WAS A 5 PERCENT PARTNER," BUT OFFICIAL RECORD SHOWED 37.5 PERCENT
One of the most striking discrepancies in Kuris's statements emerged in his partnership share in Arden Gida. In his answers to questions about the company, Kuris said he remembered his share in Arden Gida as 5 percent.
However, according to the GIB records entered into the statement, Kuris's share was 10 percent, 2 percent, and 5 percent at different periods, and it increased to 37.5 percent between February 12, 2020, and July 28, 2021.
Despite these records being read to him, Kuris said, "Even during the periods I was a shareholder, I remember my share as 5 percent."
HE TRANSFERRED HIS PARTNERSHIP IN THE BILLION-LIRA COMPANY TO HIS BROTHER
Discrepancies were also observed in Kuris's statements regarding the duration of his partnership in Arden Gida. At the beginning of his police statement, he said he was a shareholder in Arden Gida between 2003 and 2023, as far as he remembered. When questions about the MASAK findings began, he stated that he transferred all his shares in July 2021.
When Kuris, who also said at the prosecutor's office that he left the company in 2021, was asked to whom he transferred his shares, he answered, "I don't remember who I transferred them to, but it could be my brother." Official records, however, stated that the shares were transferred to his brother Hilmi Tuna Kuris.
MASAK TABLE PLACED BEFORE HIM: 6.52 BILLION TL MONEY TRAFFIC, 76.5 MILLION TL IN CASH
The financial movements of Arden Gida, the company in which Kuris was a former partner and whose shares he transferred to his brother Hilmi Tuna Kuris, constituted the most comprehensive part of the interrogation. According to MASAK data, Arden Gida's banking transaction volume reached 6 billion 520 million 264 thousand TL between 2017 and June 30, 2026.
The company's gross sales in 2025 alone also reached 1 billion 575 million TL. MASAK noted that there were significant increases in the financial transactions and goods purchase-sale volumes of the companies under analysis, especially after 2020 and as of 2022.
During the same period, it was recorded that 76 million 537 thousand TL in cash was deposited into Arden Gida accounts, and there was a total of approximately 52 million 381 thousand TL in transfer inflows through electronic money and payment institutions. It was seen that approximately 52 million 374 thousand TL of this was carried out through SIPAY in 273 transactions.
In MASAK's assessment, attention was drawn not only to the size of the figures but also to the source of the money and its movement between companies. The report stated that a significant portion of the companies under analysis had high cash circulation, that "high-amount cash inflows whose source requires explanation" were made to the companies, and that the transfer of these funds to different companies was considered suspicious.
MASAK also evaluated the presence of both high-amount purchases and high-amount sales between the same companies in the goods purchase-sale records between companies as "remarkable in terms of fake invoicing."
"AS A RESULT OF WORKING IN AN ORGANIZED MANNER."
The report also scrutinized foreign currency inflows inconsistent with goods purchase-sale records, high tax refunds, cash movements, and intensive money transfers between companies. In its conclusion section, MASAK noted that these transactions "raised suspicion that they may have been carried out as a result of working in an organized manner."
The report also found it noteworthy that a company within the scope of the analysis with a capital of 200 million TL was split in 2025, leading to the establishment of a new company with a capital of 1 billion 358 million 236 thousand TL. MASAK also took into account that the new company had no equity, goods purchase-sale, or transfer records other than its capital, and that successive divisions, mergers, and transfers among companies complicated the tracking of the financial chain.
One of Arden Gıda's highest-volume commercial relationships was with Akdeniz Toros Et ve Et Mamulleri. In bank records between 2017 and June 2026, the transaction volume between the two companies was approximately 339.6 million TL, while it was noted that Arden Gıda's purchases of goods and services from this company in 2025 alone reached 391 million 215 thousand TL. When Kuriş was asked about Akdeniz Toros's managers, he replied: "I am a customer of their products; apart from that, I have no other information, and I do not know their managers."
MASAK records also included two separate high-amount money inflows to Arden Gıda from MS Yapı Proje ve İnşaat. In June 2025, approximately 4 million TL with the description "real estate prepayment fee," and in July 2025, approximately 32 million TL with the description "remaining title deed fee" entered the company account, totaling over 36 million TL.
ONLY DEFENSE TO BILLION-DOLLAR FINANCIAL STATEMENT: "I LEFT IN 2021"
Immediately after reading MASAK's findings regarding the billion-lira transaction volume, cash inflows, inter-company money movements, and invoice relationships, Kuriş was asked whether he had any connection to these transactions. Kuriş centered his defense on transferring his shares in Arden Gıda in 2021.
"I transferred all my shares in Arden Gıda in 07/2021, as can be seen in official records. All the data mentioned and interpreted in the MASAK report dates to 2023 and later," he said.
However, in the MASAK conclusion section read to him, it was stated that the significant increase in financial transaction volumes and goods purchase-sale volumes in the companies under analysis was observed after 2020 and especially as of 2022.
In his subsequent response, Kuriş stated that the allegedly irregular matters occurred in 2022 and later, arguing that it was impossible for him to have any information or knowledge of these transactions.
QUESTIONED ABOUT NUMEROUS COMPANIES WITH FAMILY TIES
Kuriş was also asked about his relationships with many companies within the scope of the investigation. Kuriş admitted to partnership ties with ELF Yapı and Altun Mimarlık, and said that Güldeniz İnşaat and Ardeniz Emlak were companies inherited by his mother and uncles.
Regarding the companies Perka Yapı, Asya Otomotiv, Ada Nakış, Verona, Ada Dokuma, and Asya Süs Bitkileri, in which his father-in-law Mustafa Kösemusul was a partner, he defended himself by saying, "I have no commercial relationship with them. I have no legal or de facto ties either."
Kuriş stated that Güleryüz Kuyumculuk belonged to his wife's sister's husband, asserting that he had no commercial, legal, or de facto connection with this company either.
QUESTIONED ABOUT THE LARGE AMOUNT OF GOLD FOUND AT HOME
During the search conducted at Kuriş's residence on August 13, a large amount of gold and jewelry was seized. Kuriş was asked what the source of such a large amount of gold was and why he kept it at home. Kuriş claimed that part of the jewelry consisted of items worn at his wedding with his wife and part were gifts given to his children, defending himself by saying, "All of these are my family's savings."
One of the most striking documents revealed during the search at Kuriş's home was a promissory note dated January 29, 2021, for 3 million dollars. In the note, the creditor was listed as Alihan Kuriş and the debtor as Osman Aslanali.
What was striking was that at the beginning of his statement, Kuriş described the same person only as "my neighbor from Istanbul" and said there was no completed commercial relationship between them.
When asked about the 3 million dollar promissory note found in the safe, Kuriş this time stated that he was considering a real estate sale with Aslanali, saying the note was a "collateral note related to the real estate sale."
He claimed the sale did not take place, which is why he kept the note, and that its maturity had passed. Thus, by his own admission, it emerged that Kuriş had planned a 3 million dollar real estate transaction with the neighbor with whom he said he had "no completed commercial relationship."
The fact that the promissory note worth millions of dollars, related to a sale stated not to have occurred, was kept in a safe for approximately 5.5 years was one of the notable details of the file.
Kuriş denied all the accusations against him in both his police and prosecutor statements. While the matters in the MASAK report and witness testimonies are being evaluated within the scope of the investigation, it was learned that the investigation into the Alihan Kuriş Criminal Organization continues and is being deepened.