11.03.2026 13:40
In the third hearing of the corruption case against the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, Bulut Aydöner, brother of CHP PM member Baki Aydöner and a businessman, stated that the payments made in response to the transfer of goods during the company transition phase were perceived as unusual activities. Aydöner said, "If these places are bribes, then why am I paying the title deed expenses from my own company accounts? I made both title deed payments."
In the 'Corruption' case against the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, 402 defendants, including Ekrem İmamoğlu, who are among the 105 detained, are appearing before the judge for the third time in Silivri. The defense statements of the defendants are being continued today.
The 'corruption' investigation against Ekrem İmamoğlu, who was suspended from his position as the Mayor of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality and arrested, was completed, and an indictment of 3,809 pages was prepared on November 11, 2025. In the indictment, Ekrem İmamoğlu, referred to as the 'Organization Leader', is accused of committing crimes including 'Establishing an Organization for the Purpose of Committing Crimes', 'Bribery', 'Money Laundering', 'Fraud to the Detriment of Public Institutions and Organizations', 'Recording Personal Data', 'Seizing and Disseminating Personal Data', 'Concealing Criminal Evidence', 'Obstructing Communication', 'Causing Damage to Public Property', 'Receiving Bribes', 'Publicly Disseminating Misleading Information', 'Extortion', 'Money Laundering of Assets Derived from Crime', 'Interfering with Tenders', 'Deliberately Polluting the Environment', 'Violating the Tax Procedure Law', 'Violating the Forestry Law', and 'Violating the Mining Law'. İmamoğlu is facing a request for imprisonment ranging from 828 years and 2 months to 2,352 years for 142 actions.
"WAVING HANDS" CRISIS
The hearings will continue four days a week. In today's hearing held in the building of the Marmara Open Prison Campus in Silivri by the Istanbul 40th Heavy Penal Court, the defense statements of the defendants are being continued. The hearing started around 10:30. At the beginning of the hearing, tension arose during the transfer of the detained defendants to the courtroom. The gendarmerie tried to prevent the detained defendants from waving their hands, while those present in the courtroom reacted with applause.
"PAYMENTS HAVE BEEN PERCEIVED AS UNUSUAL MOVEMENTS"
Businessman Bulut Aydöner stated in his defense, "I was arrested based on the claims of the so-called victim Serbülent, without any evidence or documentation. In 2016, I decided to take steps towards modernizing a new generation corporate brand by measuring the customer portfolio with the balance of supply and demand, using the savings and experiences my family had built over many years. I opened my first strategic concept store in a short time. I declare that all transactions of Hasanoğulları DTM Automotive are in accordance with the law. After stepping into the white goods sector in 2016, I gained the trust of a brand as a result of my activities until 2019 and received an offer to open the largest store in Pendik, and I reached an agreement. Since I am a sole proprietorship, I carried out all transactions, from renting the store to all other official procedures, on my behalf as a proxy. While I was putting so much material and moral effort into my company, I absolutely do not want to believe that all this effort will be destroyed and that I will be defeated by a single verbal statement. After deciding to continue my business life, I established my own company based in Tuzla in 2020 and began to transition gradually to the company I established. After this process, I transferred the supermarket model I expanded on behalf of my family and contributed to the growth of my company in the dealership processes with the income I obtained from here. By 2025, I had 4 concept and corporate businesses. Mr. President, I specifically mentioned this process until 2019. Because a MASAK report has been submitted that disregards my efforts and my family's efforts in a way that I will never accept; our work, which we have grown with our flesh, teeth, and sweat, supported by the state and focused on labor, has been completely ignored. Here, all payments made against the transfer of goods during the transition phase to the Hasanoğulları company, without considering my mother's sole proprietorship, have been perceived as unusual movements. I completely reject this report. Why was I included in Action 32?" he said.
"IF THESE LANDS ARE BRIBES, WHY DID I PAY THE TITLE DEED EXPENSE?"
Aydöner continued in his defense, "As I mentioned, I am here because I conducted all steps of trade, including automotive buying and selling, officially, properly, and with invoices, without making a single unregistered sale. Without coveting worldly goods, without getting involved in any haram or wrongdoing, I have worked day and night since I was young, focusing on my business, while my parents are old, and I have not separated my home from them, having lived at the same address with my parents for 30 years, I am the detained Bulut Aydöner, who is claimed to have a flight risk. My brother is a senior executive in the CHP, and he is a person whose style, political thought, and ideas are clearly known; but he is Baykan Aydöner, I am Bulut Aydöner. There is no situation where he gives me orders, nor is there a situation where I give him orders. There is no party of tradesmen. I have never asked customers or employees who enter my stores which party they belong to, nor have I felt the need to do so. I am running a construction project in Şile and Kartal. I had a project in the Şile region, I completed it, and we moved to the sales phase. I am known in Şile as a tradesman. They claim that they gave me the lands as bribes. If these places are bribes, why do I pay the title deed expenses from my own company accounts? I made both title deed payments. I was arrested based on the statements of Taylan and Serbülent Danış. Taylan Danış practically flipped over to sell this land. If Taylan and Serbülent Danış were forced to take bribes, why did they remain silent for a year? The statements of Taylan and Serbülent are contradictory. I bought the lands by paying their price. I have title deeds in my hand like a door," he said. The hearing was adjourned until 14:00.