21.10.2026 21:10
Tanju Özcan, who was suspended from his post as Mayor of Bolu Municipality and is detained, stated that he and his friends were sentenced to 7 years and 3 months in prison on the grounds that they received advertisements from markets to provide scholarships to 528 students through BOL-SEV. In the message shared on his social media account, Özcan argued that no suspicious transaction of even 1 kuruş was detected in the MASAK investigation and said, 'They made us experience days when only those who provide scholarships were treated like terrorists.'
(ANKARA) -
Tanju Özcan, who was removed from his post as Mayor of Bolu, stated that he and his friends were sentenced to 7 years and 3 months in prison on the grounds that they took advertisements from supermarkets to provide scholarships to 528 students through BOL-SEV, and said, 'Without providing any benefit to themselves, they made us live through days when the one who merely gave scholarships was treated like a terrorist.'
The message of detained Tanju Özcan was shared on his social media account. The following statements were included in Özcan's message:
WE HAD BEEN PROVIDING SCHOLARSHIPS TO 528 CHILDREN FOR 1.5 YEARS
'Do you see, the king is naked. We had founded a foundation (BOL-SEV) to provide scholarships to students and build a nursing home for our elderly. We had been providing scholarships to 528 children from Bolu for 1.5 years. We were also securing the funding for the scholarships by broadcasting advertisements on the foundation's 40 large LED screens. We also requested advertising from the three-letter supermarket chains that earn trillions of liras. They gave advertisements between 2,000 and 10,000 TL. They said, 'You took advertisements by coercion (icbar),' filed a lawsuit seeking 300 years in prison, arrested and exiled us to Sincan.
THEY COULD NOT DETECT A SINGLE KURUŞ OF SUSPICIOUS TRANSACTION
They investigated seven generations of our family, obtained a MASAK report. Ultimately, they could not detect a single kuruş of suspicious transaction by me or my friends. As a result, without providing any benefit to themselves, they had us sentenced to 7 years and 3 months in prison for taking advertisements from three-letter supermarket chains and using the revenue solely to provide scholarships to students. (Anyone who wishes can examine the file.) In Turkey, where the punishment for someone who steals billions of liras from citizens is merely being removed from a WhatsApp group, they also made us live through days when someone who did not steal, did not provide a single kuruş of benefit for his pocket, and merely gave scholarships was treated like a terrorist. Instead of having us punished for the three kuruş that went into the student's pocket, I wish you had imposed a heavier penalty for your pardoning of terrorists and for my reaction to the refugee invasions. At least you would have been honorable.'