29.05.2025 18:51
In the context of the corruption investigation conducted against the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality and its suspended president Ekrem İmamoğlu, it has been revealed that the suspect Seyfi Beyaz, who was released under judicial control measures in the form of 'house arrest' on the grounds of benefiting from the effective remorse provisions, provided four separate statements.
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The investigation into the corruption allegations against the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) and its suspended president Ekrem İmamoğlu is ongoing.
FOUR SEPARATE STATEMENTS EMERGED As part of the investigation, four separate statements given by the suspect Seyfi Beyaz, who was released under judicial control with the condition of 'house arrest' due to benefiting from the effective remorse provisions, on April 9, April 25, May 14, and May 26, 2025, have emerged.
"WE BUILT A CONSTRUCTION WITH İMAMOĞLU, WE BOUGHT JOINT LAND" In his statements on the last two dates, it was determined that he said, "During my time in prison; I remembered some of the events I experienced, and since some time has passed, it was not possible for me to remember all of them at that moment. I wanted to share other events that came to my mind." Beyaz, who identified himself as a contractor, stated in his first statement given to the Prosecutor's Office on April 9, "I have been engaged in the contracting profession, which is our family business, since 1983. I am a shareholder of a company named Beyaz İnşaat. I am also a shareholder of Uzman A.Ş., which owns the land of the Capacity shopping center located in Bakırköy." Beyaz stated that he has known İmamoğlu since 2010, saying, "A piece of land was for sale in Beylikdüzü, and we built a construction on this land together with Ekrem İmamoğlu. I sold the independent sections that corresponded to my share. Additionally, there was a piece of land for sale in Beylikdüzü in 2010. We also bought this land jointly with a company named İmamoğlu İnşaat. 40% of the land belongs to me, and 60% belongs to them. We did not build any construction on this land; it still retains its status as land."
Seyfi Beyaz "THEY ASKED FOR 750 THOUSAND LIRA BY STATING THAT THE BRIDGE COULD NOT BE BUILT BY THE MUNICIPALITY, BUT WE LATER LEARNED THAT THE BRIDGE WAS BUILT BY THE MUNICIPALITY" In his statement on April 25, suspect Beyaz said, "After seeing the 'for sale' sign on the land of the construction we did at Teraspark Shopping Center, we contacted a person named Kemal A. from the number we called. He said that he owned 85% of it, and 15% was in the name of Ekrem İmamoğlu. We spoke with İmamoğlu, and when we understood that we could do this construction together, we bought Kemal A.'s 85% share. After purchasing the shares, we continued and completed the construction. Ekrem İmamoğlu bought 6 or 7 shops, which corresponded to 20% instead of 15%. We officially transferred the remaining 5% share, but we did not receive any payment in return. A bridge was to be built next to the shopping mall; we said that the municipality should build this bridge, but the municipality stated that it could not do it and showed us Adem Soytekin, saying that he would build the bridge. Adem Soytekin asked us for 750 thousand lira in return for building this bridge. My brother gave this money to Adem in cash. Later, we learned that the bridge in question was built by the municipality," he stated.
"AFTER BECOMING THE IMM PRESIDENT, HE CONSTANTLY ASKED FOR THINGS" In his statement on May 14, suspect Beyaz stated that he did not want to do business in that area due to İmamoğlu constantly asking him for money after he became mayor, saying, "For this reason, I told my brother that I did not want to do the project located around Yakuplu Square, which we had previously agreed upon, and we transferred this job to Adem Soytekin. We were supposed to buy 2 apartments from there, but we could not get them either. I was very disturbed by the constant requests for money due to the construction jobs we did after Ekrem İmamoğlu became the mayor of Beylikdüzü and then IMM. I also did not receive any work from IMM, and I am very upset about the situation I am in at this point," he expressed.
Adem Soytekin "WE TOLD HIM THAT WE COULD NOT GET THE OCCUPANCY PERMIT. HE SAID, 'IF YOU GIVE 3 MILLION LIRA, I WILL GET YOUR OCCUPANCY PERMIT'" Finally, on May 26, suspect Beyaz stated that he wanted to mention the 3 million lira given to Adem Soytekin to obtain the occupancy permit for the West Side project, saying, "Since we could not get the occupancy permit, about 200 apartment owners sued us. 580 apartments also belonged to Kemal Şahin as the landowner in the building. He was also going to make a request from us. Therefore, we had to obtain the occupancy permit as soon as possible. Although we built the building in accordance with the permit and project, we could not get our occupancy permit. We discussed this with Adem Soytekin. We told him that we could not get the occupancy permit. He said, 'If you give me 3 million lira, I will get your occupancy permit.' We had previously had to give him an apartment due to this issue, but despite that, our occupancy permit was not granted. We paid the 3 million lira to Adem, including VAT. One of the partners, İsa U., said that we could officially withdraw the money, and for that, Adem needed to issue an invoice. Following this, he issued an invoice for 3 million 540 thousand lira," he stated.
"WE DID NOT GIVE THE APARTMENTS AND MONEY WILLINGLY. WE WERE FORCED TO GIVE THESE IN THE OCCUPANCY PERMIT AND CONSTRUCTION LICENSE PROCESSES" Suspect Beyaz stated that the occupancy permits were obtained two days after the requested money was delivered, saying, "I sincerely told everything I knew. We did not give the apartments and money willingly. We were forced to give these in the occupancy permit and construction license processes. Many people engaged in construction work have been subjected to similar treatment. The working method of municipalities is also like this. If their requests are not met, they do not finalize the occupancy and license processes. No one wants to give these amounts voluntarily. I want these issues to be taken into consideration," he expressed.
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