30.03.2026 23:40
The statement of Uşak Mayor Özkan Yalım, who was arrested in a bribery investigation after being detained in a hotel room with his 21-year-old municipal employee girlfriend, has emerged. Yalım stated, "The 1.5 million lira sent to the account of a person named Aslıhan Aksoy was sent for the purchase of a vehicle. At the time the money was transferred, I was not the mayor. Our relationship ended shortly after she started working at Bornova Municipality."
The statement of Uşak Mayor Özkan Yalım, who was detained as part of the 'bribery' investigation against the Uşak Municipality, has emerged. In his statement, Yalım said, "The allegations of duplicate invoicing do not reflect the truth. The witness statements claiming that I and senior executives at the municipality went to entertainment venues at night and had these expenses covered as representation and hospitality costs by the municipality are unfounded and do not reflect the truth. The nightclub and restaurant in question are part of my companies, and there is no payment of any account invoiced to the municipality."
ÖZKAN YALIM ARRESTED
As part of the 'bribery' investigation conducted by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office against the Uşak Municipality, 17 suspects, including Mayor Özkan Yalım, were detained. After the procedures at the police station, Özkan Yalım was arrested by the court to which he was brought, and his statement to the prosecutor's office has emerged.
"THE ALLEGATIONS OF DUPLICATE INVOICING DO NOT REFLECT THE TRUTH"
In his statement, Özkan Yalım said: "I did not receive any money from anyone by transferring it to my personal accounts under the guise of helping Uşak Sport. The allegations that duplicate invoices were issued for materials purchased from a company named 'Ontek' for the social facilities affiliated with the Uşak Municipality do not reflect the truth. No payment has been made to the websites uşakgündem.com and uşakhaber.com from the municipality. These sites are related to buying and selling transactions and have no connection to me. The witness statements claiming that I and senior executives at the municipality went to entertainment venues at night and had these expenses covered as representation and hospitality costs by the municipality are unfounded and do not reflect the truth.
"I DO NOT KNOW IF ASLIHAN AKSOY CAME TO WORK AT THE MUNICIPALITY"
The nightclub and restaurant in question are part of my companies, and there is no payment of any account invoiced to the municipality. It is true that the person named Aslıhan Aksoy mentioned in the witness statements worked as a municipal employee to ensure the cleanliness and order of the municipality's social facilities. I have no information regarding whether Aslıhan Aksoy actually came to work during her time at the municipality or when she took leave. Aslıhan Aksoy was working at my hotel before being hired by the municipality.
"I SENT 1 MILLION 500 THOUSAND LIRA FROM MY PERSONAL ACCOUNT"
After starting to work at the municipality, her relationship with my business was terminated. The 1 million 500 thousand lira sent to the account of the person named Aslıhan Aksoy from my personal account was for the purchase of a vehicle. At the time the money was transferred, I was not the mayor. I made the transfer due to personal reasons stemming from our special relationship. This matter has no connection to my duties as mayor or the municipality.
"I INTERCEDED FOR HER TO GET A JOB AT BORNOVA MUNICIPALITY"
Before I became mayor, when she expressed her desire to work at the municipality's social facilities while working at my business, I hired her considering the needs at the municipality. After the news that followed, she left her job at the municipality. Later, I directed her to the Human Resources of Bornova Municipality to assist her in continuing to work there. Our relationship ended shortly after she started working at Bornova Municipality. I requested the Mayor of Bornova to hire Aslıhan Aksoy in a suitable position if there was a need. He also helped." he said.
"I HAD 3 OTHER BUSINESSES REGISTERED IN THE NAME OF CİHAN ARAS"
Yalım said, "The conversations between Cihan Aras and me, which are included in the file, are merely messages he wrote to me out of anger after I closed my business registered in the name of Cihan Aras in Bulgaria due to no longer needing it, regarding the tax that arose from that closure. It is already understood from my response to him in the message, 'the incoming amount is not a problem for me,' that the matter is related to tax. I have a company registered in my name in Bulgaria that operates in the logistics field. I also own 50% of a logistics company operating in Germany, but the entire company is registered in the name of someone named Reyhan, who previously worked as a manager at my business in Bulgaria. I also had 3 other businesses registered in the name of Cihan Aras, which belong to me in Bulgaria. However, currently, only one of them is active. This company operates in logistics, inspection, and vehicle washing." he said.
"I AM A PERSON WHO LOVES UŞAK"
Özkan Yalım continued his statement with the following words: "I am a person who loves Uşak. I am a nationalist and a supporter of Atatürk. I am someone who brings the money I have earned both domestically and abroad to the Sivaslı district. I built a Science High School in Sivaslı in memory of my late father and have made contributions to the construction of a university and other assistance that could be beneficial for the district. I donated two vehicles to the Uşak Provincial Police Department. I also donated an ambulance and a funeral vehicle to the Sivaslı district. All of these are donations I made before becoming mayor.
I have contributed sufficiently to the needs of the Uşak Provincial Police Department's facility. I made donations to the soup kitchen in Uşak during the previous municipal administration. I come from an educational family. For this reason, I provide the necessary support to educational and public institutions from my personal accounts. After being elected mayor, I canceled the rental of garbage trucks after the lease expired to ensure that the municipality's operations run more efficiently and arranged for the purchase of trucks belonging to the municipality from the State Supply Office, and I took actions to minimize the municipality's expenses by establishing a stone and paving factory.
Thanks to my efforts, the municipality's budget will save around 1 billion TL by 2025, placing us among the top 10 municipalities in Turkey. I request that these matters be taken into account within the scope of the allegations. I do not accept the charges against me. I am proud to serve as the Mayor of Uşak and want to continue my work."