09.11.2026 12:03
Journalist Barış Terkoğlu, by disclosing documents in the archives of the US Department of State, claimed that Mustafa Sarıgül was complained about on the grounds that he harassed a female interpreter on duty in an elevator during his 2007 trip to the US, and that numerous corruption reports were prepared about him by the US administration.
Journalist Barış Terkoğlu, by disclosing documents that he stated were in the US State Department archives about Erzincan MP Mustafa Sarıgül, claimed that Sarıgül was complained about during his US visit on the allegation that he harassed a female interpreter in an elevator, and that numerous corruption reports had been prepared about him.
Journalist Barış Terkoğlu, on a television program he appeared on, recounted the behind-the-scenes of the allegations about Mustafa Sarıgül through the documents he examined. Terkoğlu shared with the public the harassment allegation said to have occurred during the 2007 US visit and the US State Department’s assessment reports about Sarıgül.
“US INTERPRETER FILED A COMPLAINT”
Relaying the incident that took place between Sarıgül and the interpreter assigned during his 2007 visit, Terkoğlu used the following statements: “In 2007, Sarıgül gets an international visitor visa and goes to the US State Department. There is an interpreter assigned to him here. It is also seen in the documents that Sarıgül said, ‘I experienced an incident there; because the interpreter complained about me, the US gave up supporting me, whereas I was a promising politician in this country.’ And that incident is this: the US interpreter complained about Sarıgül to his own state, alleging that he harassed her in the elevator. Thereupon, the meetings were cut off. Sarıgül also says, ‘I experienced these things and because of this the relations were cut off.’”
“US STATE DEPARTMENT HAS 54 DOCUMENTS”
Also touching on the reports prepared by US authorities about Sarıgül, Terkoğlu expressed the details of the investigations into the corruption allegations with these words: “The US State Department has 54 documents about Sarıgül. That is, this person is the mayor of a district of Istanbul. We sat down and started writing these documents. What we saw was this: after Sarıgül was elected in 1999, the fierce conflict between him and Deniz Baykal was Baykal’s criticism of Sarıgül over corruption. Sarıgül, who was expelled for corruption, was taken back into the party in 2013 by Kılıçdaroğlu, who said ‘now cleansing,’ and was nominated in Istanbul. Sarıgül fought more within the CHP than with the AKP. Whenever a debate arose, it was said that ‘Sarıgül is engaged in corruption.’ We saw these. The US also noticed this situation and meets with Sarıgül; they meet with journalists and investigate. They are seeking an answer to the question, ‘Should we, as the US, support Sarıgül?’ It was revealed and reported that this name had too many corruption files.”