23.03.2026 18:41
The trial concerning the 'corruption' investigation against the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality continued on its eighth day, involving a total of 407 defendants, including 107 who are in custody, 7 who are fugitives, and 5 who are complainant-defendants, among whom is Ekrem İmamoğlu, who was suspended from his position and arrested. While the defense of Ali Sukas, the General Manager of Ağaç A.Ş., was being taken, Ekrem İmamoğlu also took the floor and directed some questions.
Ekrem İmamoğlu, who was removed from the position of Mayor of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality and arrested, was the subject of a completed 'corruption' investigation, and an indictment of 3,809 pages was prepared on November 11, 2025.
UP TO 2,352 YEARS IN PRISON IS REQUESTED In the indictment, Ekrem İmamoğlu, whose name is mentioned as 'organization leader', is accused of committing crimes such as 'establishing an organization for the purpose of committing a crime', 'bribery', 'money laundering', 'fraud to the detriment of public institutions and organizations', 'recording personal data', 'seizing and disseminating personal data', 'hiding criminal evidence', 'obstructing communication', 'damaging public property', 'receiving bribes', 'publicly disseminating misleading information', 'extortion', 'laundering assets derived from crime', 'interfering with tenders', 'deliberately polluting the environment', 'violating tax procedure law', 'violating forest law', and 'violating mining law'. İmamoğlu is requested to be sentenced to imprisonment ranging from 828 years and 2 months to 2,352 years for 142 actions.
THIRD WEEK OF HEARINGS: DEFENSES CONTINUE TO BE TAKEN The hearing started at 10:40. The hearings held at the Istanbul 40th Heavy Criminal Court in Silivri continue today with the defenses of the detained defendants being taken. Last week, there was no hearing on March 19, Thursday, due to it being the eve of a holiday.
The first hearing was held on March 9, Monday. In the hearings of the first week, detained defendants Aykut Erdoğdu, Sırrı Küçük, Ümit Polat, and Bulut Aydöner made their defenses. So far, a total of 9 defendants have presented their defenses in the hearings held. While there was no hearing on Friday, hearings will continue for 4 days of the week.
AĞAÇ A.Ş CEO SUKAS: ALL ALLEGATIONS ARE BASELESS Detained defendant Ağaç A.Ş CEO Ali Sukas stated in his defense, "By the end of 2023, our debt to Çağlayan Tarım is not 94 million lira. Çağlayan Tarım's receivable from Ağaç A.Ş. is approximately 35 million. Of this debt, 25.1 million lira corresponds to an invoice dated 20.12.2023. I received some information in the second half of 2024. That employees have not received their salaries. I invited them and inquired whether there were any personnel who made requests regarding the company. All allegations are baseless; I do not accept any allegations," he said.
Ali Sukas "THERE IS NOT A SINGLE CONCRETE EVIDENCE SHOWING THAT I AM A PART OF A CRIMINAL ORGANIZATION" In response to the statement of the secret witness named 'Gürgen', Sukas defended, "The secret witness's company list is a lie; there is no such company list. We have a table regarding all debts prepared by our financial department. We make payments according to these monthly lists. I will present the relevant file to the court. There is also another table; we are an organization that tracks processes with tables. We are subject to audits by the Court of Accounts and the Public Procurement Authority. According to the Commercial Code, you must protect the interests of the company; in other words, we are not just any company in the market. We are not directly public either. If you cause the company to incur losses, you are audited according to the commercial code, and if you act contrary to public procurement, you are audited by the Court of Accounts. So we do not have the luxury of incurring losses. I have not committed any of the actions attributed to me. The position I hold is an official and institutional position. Therefore, there is not a single concrete evidence showing that I acted with the intent to commit a crime, that I am a part of a criminal organization, or that I am involved in any illegal activity. I am sure I will be released," he said. A 1-hour break was given to the hearing around 12:40.
QUESTIONS FROM İMAMOĞLU TO SUKAS After the break, the hearing began at 14:00 with the cross-examination of Ali Sukas. Detained defendant Ekrem İmamoğlu said, "I have been someone who has received the highest votes in Istanbul for 7 years. The files presented by the prosecution are completely worthless. Your Honor, a criminal complaint should be filed regarding this," he said. İmamoğlu then asked Ali Sukas, "Mr. Ali, how did you start working, how were you hired?" Sukas replied, "I am someone who loves my profession very much and has developed myself after graduation. After the 2019 elections, İBB Human Resources called me and invited me for an interview. We had a preliminary interview. 15 days later, I was called again by HR, and we had another meeting in Saraçhane. After a while, I was called again and learned that I was hired."
"NEITHER DID I RECEIVE ANY INFORMATION NOR DID I HEAR ANY RUMORS" İmamoğlu asked Sukas, "Did any of the managers you worked with say that İmamoğlu wants you to hire this person?" to which Ali Sukas replied, "No, that did not happen." When İmamoğlu asked, "Did you receive any directive like 'fire these people because they are affiliated with this party' among the people you worked with?" Sukas responded, "No, I have never received such a directive." İmamoğlu also asked Sukas, "Apart from this, did we have any covert secret meeting?" to which Sukas replied, "I explained in my defense that I am not even a member of an organization; if there were such a thing, I would have felt it; neither did I receive any information nor did I hear any rumors."