07.11.2026 00:30
Presenter Ela Rümeysa Cebeci, who was acquitted in the drug case in which she was tried together with former Fenerbahçe President Sadettin Saran, reacted sharply to claims that there was intimacy between her and former Habertürk Editor-in-Chief Mehmet Akif Ersoy. Stating that she and Ersoy only worked at the same workplace, Cebeci argued that they had no meetings outside work. Describing the claims about her as a reputation assassination, the presenter announced that she would initiate legal proceedings.
Ela Rümeysa Cebeci, following the acquittal verdict, this time responded to claims about Mehmet Akif Ersoy. Cebeci, who categorically denied the allegations made about her, drew attention in her statement to both the investigation file and her legal rights.
HARSH RESPONSE TO CLAIMS ABOUT MEHMET AKİF ERSOY Ela Rümeysa Cebeci denied the claims that there was a closeness beyond a work relationship between her and former Habertürk Editor-in-Chief Mehmet Akif Ersoy. Stating that she and Ersoy only worked at the same institution, Cebeci said they had no meetings outside of work. Arguing that the allegations made about her did not reflect the truth, Cebeci claimed that the phone records and digital materials examined within the scope of the investigation also supported her statements. The presenter announced that she would seek legal recourse against broadcasts that she said targeted her.
"IT IS AN OUTRIGHT CHARACTER ASSASSINATION!" In her statement to the public, Ela Rümeysa Cebeci used the following expressions: "Mehmet Akif Ersoy and I only worked at the same workplace! Outside of work, we neither had any meeting nor any dialogue. All the claims of closeness and a shared environment created about us are unfounded, slander, an outright character assassination! As part of the prosecution investigation, the technical examinations and evaluation of HTS records and digital materials have established in official investigation records that we never met outside of work, that I never went to the nightclubs and environments mentioned in the allegations, and that there were no photographs or video recordings related to the allegations on our phones. Our files were separated months ago. I hereby notify all relevant broadcasters, by way of warning, that I will hold accountable before the law everyone who, for the sake of clicks and ratings, has placed our photographs side by side, created a false perception about me, violated my personal rights, and targeted my reputation."
ANNOUNCED THAT SHE WOULD INITIATE LEGAL PROCEEDINGS One of the most striking points in Ela Rümeysa Cebeci's statement was that she clearly stated she would take legal action regarding the allegations about her. The presenter argued that news reports claiming there was a bond between her and Mehmet Akif Ersoy beyond a work relationship violated her personal rights. Cebeci, also stating that the investigation files had been separated months earlier, claimed that technical examinations confirmed her statements.
ACQUITTED IN THE CASE WHERE SHE WAS TRIED WITH SADETTİN SARAN Ela Rümeysa Cebeci had been detained in December 2025 within the scope of a drug investigation targeting media workers. After examination of biological samples taken by the Forensic Medicine Institute, Cebeci was arrested on 17 December 2025 on the charge of "facilitating drug use." The presenter, who stayed in prison for about four months, was released on 24 April 2026 with judicial control measures in the form of house arrest. Cebeci, whose file was separated during the investigation process, later appeared before a judge together with Sadettin Saran on charges of trading or supplying narcotic or stimulant substances. In the case heard at Istanbul 4th High Criminal Court, both individuals faced a request for imprisonment of no less than 10 years. On 4 November, the court decided to acquit Ela Rümeysa Cebeci and Sadettin Saran on the grounds that the legal elements of the crime were not constituted.