26.08.2026 21:10
A striking claim came from complainant and released defendant Uğur Güngör, who triggered the launch of the İBB investigation. Güngör, who said that 15 million lira in bribes were demanded for a construction job during the period when Ekrem İmamoğlu was the Mayor of Beylikdüzü, stated, 'I did not agree to pay the bribe. Mehmet Murat Çalık threatened me with the words, 'If you leave here, you will never get in again,' and an argument broke out. During the shouting, İmamoğlu also came out of his office and joined us.'
On the sixth day of the second hearing of the "Ekrem İmamoğlu Criminal Enterprise" case, after a one-hour break, the court president stated that they would not hear the defendant's defense next week but would take their statements regarding their detention status. The court president announced that the hearing would last for 4 days. Meanwhile, detained defendant Ekrem İmamoğlu's statements regarding his detention are expected to be taken on Thursday, September 3rd.
"I DON'T KNOW WHERE THE MONEY WAS GIVEN"
At the hearing, the partner of detained defendant Adem Soytekin, non-detained defendant Erdal Tokmakçı, made his defense. Defendant Tokmakçı, stating he owns a company that supplies construction materials, said, "I did not bribe anyone." Upon this, the court president asked the defendant, "Where did you give the 500 thousand dollars?" The defendant answered this question as, "I delivered it to Adem Soytekin. I don't know where he gave it." Thereupon, defendant Soytekin asked Tokmakçı, "Did we give the 500 thousand dollars to KİPTAŞ?" Tokmakçı said, "I gave the mentioned money to become a 34 percent partner in the company. I don't know where the money was given."
"İMAMOĞLU WAS FOLLOWING UP ON THE BRIBERY AFFAIRS"
Uğur Güngör, the complainant and non-detained defendant who is the owner of Muscan İnşaat in Büyükçekmece, denied the bribery allegations, saying, "Between 2015 and 2016, in order to do business with Gül İnşaat in Beylikdüzü in exchange for floors, the company owners Ali Gül, Zafer Gül, and Osman Gül converted places that appeared as residences into shops. It was stated that for this work to be done, the company owners needed to bribe the municipality. They asked me for half of the bribe money, but I did not accept. The bribe was 15 million lira. One day, we had a meeting with Zafer Gül and the then Deputy Mayor of Beylikdüzü, Mehmet Murat Çalık. Çalık demanded 15 million lira in bribes from me. I did not agree to pay the bribe. Upon this, Çalık said to me, 'If you leave here, you can never enter again,' in a threatening manner, and an argument broke out between us. During the shouting, the then Mayor of Beylikdüzü, Ekrem İmamoğlu, also came out of his office next door, said 'what's going on,' and then left. At that time, Ekrem İmamoğlu was following up on the bribery affairs. I agreed to give promissory notes due to the insistence of Zafer Gül and Mehmet Murat Çalık. Zafer Gül received these promissory notes. Later, a person named Davut Akay stated that the promissory notes were with Fatih Keleş, a CHP municipal council member of the then Beylikdüzü Municipality, and said that payments should be made to Keleş. Together with Zafer Gül, Davut Akay, and the then lawyer Oğuzhan Güney, we made payments to Fatih Keleş. For the remaining promissory notes, we agreed to give 13 apartments," he said.
"BEYLİKDÜZÜ AND BÜYÜKÇEKMECE ARE LIKE LIBERATED ZONES"
Continuing his defense, Güngör claimed that the apartments were transferred to Adem Soytekin, saying, "Upon the request of Mehmet Murat Çalık, the apartments were transferred to Adem Soytekin's company, Asoy İnşaat. In the following period, upon Davut Akay's statement, the apartments in question were transferred from Asoy İnşaat to Gül İnşaat, and I was defrauded. We acted together with Beylikdüzü Municipality and Gül İnşaat. Davut Akay was doing the real estate brokerage for Gül İnşaat's constructions. The Beylikdüzü and Büyükçekmece region is like a liberated zone. The irregularities in the Vera project, built by Gül İnşaat on land belonging to Beylikdüzü Municipality, will be seen. The system of the rent structure will be understood. The then Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu gave the land to Gül İnşaat at a low rate. Later, the sale prices of the apartments were shown as low. The amounts not officially stated were shared between Gül İnşaat and Ekrem İmamoğlu. After the first project, the tender for the land next to the project was given to Gül İnşaat. After the construction was completed, Gül İnşaat bought the apartments falling to the municipality's share with long-term checks and did not pay its debt for a very long time. They earned around 500 million lira from this project," he stated.
"İMAMOĞLU BECAME VERY WEALTHY DURING HIS TERM AS MAYOR OF BEYLİKDÜZÜ"
Güngör said, "Ali Gül is the owner of Gül İnşaat. They partnered with Ekrem İmamoğlu in the Vera project. İmamoğlu became very wealthy during his term as Mayor of Beylikdüzü. İmamoğlu conducts business through bribery in the Beylikdüzü and Büyükçekmece Municipalities. When İmamoğlu was the Mayor of Beylikdüzü, he followed up on business through Fatih Keleş, Adem Soytekin, Murat Çalık, and Tuncay Yılmaz. Adem Soytekin would give him unzoned lands, then have them opened for development, and the large income from these projects would be shared with Ekrem İmamoğlu."
During the defense, defendant Mehmet Murat Çalık asked questions to defendant Güngör. When he directed a question to Çalık in response to the defendant's questions, the court president told defendant Güngör, "The people here are detained because of your statements. They have the right to ask questions." The defendant's lawyer asked about the statements belonging to Uğur Güngör, "Fatih Keleş is Ekrem İmamoğlu's safe." Regarding this statement, defendant Güngör said, "My statements here are not based on direct observation, but on hearsay from my surroundings." The hearing was adjourned for 1 hour.