01.06.2025 22:35
A highly talked-about allegation has emerged regarding the fifth wave of corruption operations targeting the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IBB). It has been claimed that after the IBB was taken over by the CHP, a company named Ulaşım İç ve Dış Ticaret A.Ş., which received billions of lira in contracts from IETT, declared concordat two days prior to the operation. As part of the operation, the owners of the company, Remzi Baka and Şaban Baka, are also in custody.
The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office has conducted a fifth wave operation against the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) as part of four separate investigation files. A detention order has been issued for 47 individuals, including many mayors and businessmen.
NOTABLE DETENTION OF TWO INDIVIDUALS IN THE OPERATION AGAINST IMM
Among those detained, two individuals stood out. Remzi Baka and Şaban Baka, the owners of a company named Ulaşım İç ve Dış Ticaret A.Ş., which received billions of lira in tenders from IETT after IMM switched to CHP, were also detained. It was learned that the financial consultancy of the company was previously conducted by Özgür Karabat, the Deputy Chairman of CHP and Istanbul Member of Parliament.
CONTROVERSIAL CLAIM BY AK PARTY COUNCIL MEMBER
Abdullah Aksu, an IMM AK Party Council Member, raised a striking claim regarding the company on his social media account. Aksu alleged that the company declared concordat two days before the operation.
Aksu used the following expressions in his post: "Today, I want to share with you the chronological flow and tragic end of an event that you will say 'wow' when you read; there is a company named Ulaşım İç ve Dış Tic AŞ, for which CHP Istanbul Member of Parliament Özgür Karabat was the accountant in 2019.
"RECEIVED 43 TENDERS FROM IETT"
This company, despite having no experience, has received 43 tenders worth 20 billion since 2019 from IETT. (By the way, IETT's 6-year budget is 65 billion. In other words, for every three lira IETT spends, one lira goes into this company's pocket. The claim is that Özgür Karabat was the person who introduced and recommended this company to the former IMM President Ekrem İmamoğlu, who is currently imprisoned for corruption.
This company not only receives maintenance tenders from IETT. Subsequently, again "on the recommendation" of Özgür Karabat, 160 AKIA brand metrobuses are purchased from this company. Özgür Karabat, who introduced Ekrem İmamoğlu to Ulaşım İç ve Dış Tic AŞ and facilitated "a very profitable trade for both parties," was "rewarded" by Ekrem İmamoğlu for this success and appointed as the "Deputy Chairman responsible for the treasury" in CHP.
The previous AK Party IMM Group Vice Chairman Mehmet Tevfik Göksu passed a decision in the council to establish a research commission to investigate these issues regarding this "lucky company," which received tenders worth 20 billion from IETT in 6 years. However, this council decision was vetoed by the then IMM President Ekrem İmamoğlu, who is currently imprisoned on corruption charges.
"DECLARATION OF CONCORDAT TWO DAYS BEFORE THE OPERATION"
Despite all warnings from the AK Party IMM Group, lucrative tenders continue to be awarded to Ulaşım İç ve Dış Tic AŞ, owned by Özgür Karabat. Since the investigations began at IMM, the company, which has "not been able to receive tenders and payments as it wishes," hastily declared concordat a few days ago.
Two days after the company's declaration of concordat, the owners of this company, Remzi Baka and Şaban Baka, who are the patrons of Özgür Karabat, were detained. I guess at this hour, they are busy accounting for the 20 billion they "earned" from the people of Istanbul.
It is said that Özgür Karabat, whose name is referred to as "organizer Özgür" in the CHP congress, which has become suspicious due to allegations of delegate purchasing, has fallen silent after the recent developments and is in a state of anxious waiting.
CORRUPTION INVESTIGATION AGAINST IMM
The corruption investigation against the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, conducted by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, is ongoing as part of the investigation into a criminal organization allegedly led by Aziz İhsan Aktaş, with operations aimed at capturing a total of 47 suspects related to investigations concerning the Culture and Social Affairs Directorates of Büyükçekmece and Beşiktaş Municipalities.
In simultaneous operations conducted as part of four separate corruption investigations carried out by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, 33 suspects, including former CHP Member of Parliament Aykut Erdoğdu, Avcılar Mayor Utku Caner Çaykara, Gaziosmanpaşa Mayor Hakan Bahçetepe, Büyükçekmece Mayor Hasan Akgün, Ceyhan Mayor Kadir Aydar, and Seyhan Mayor Oya Tekin, were detained.
It was determined that three of the suspects against whom detention orders were issued are in prison, while three others are abroad. Efforts by the teams to capture the fugitives are ongoing.