09.05.2026 12:01
Arrested and dismissed Uşak Mayor Özkan Yalım reportedly said in his testimony under effective remorse that he provided financial and vehicle support to CHP leader Özgür Özel. Responding to the allegations, Özel denied the accusations and emphasized that all expenses for the vehicle in question were covered by the party, and no personal benefit was obtained.
The repercussions of the confession of Uşak Mayor Özkan Yalım, who was expelled from the CHP and arrested on charges of "bribery," "extortion," and "tender rigging," continue.
CHP Chairman Özgür Özel responded during a program on Sözcü TV to the claim by Yalım, who testified under the effective remorse provisions, that he had given "money" and "vehicles" to Özel before the party congress.
"THE ALLEGATIONS AIM TO DISCREDIT THE PARTY, INSTITUTIONS, AND PEOPLE" Stating that the allegations contradict each other and that the aim is a conspiracy to discredit the CHP and himself, Özel said: "Now they are trying to set up another conspiracy from here. What I am trying to express is full of lies from start to finish, aiming to discredit the party, institutions, and people, and to weave a web of lies. The worst part is that the person who did this in Istanbul now sits in the Ministry of Justice. The Council of Judges and Prosecutors is also under him."
"WE PAID FOR BOTH THE INVOICE OF THE VEHICLE AND THE ACCESSORIES" Denying the allegations, Özgür Özel stated: "They say the Uşak Municipality bought a VIP vehicle for us, but it has all turned out to be lies. In the end, we paid for both the invoice of the vehicle and the accessories. The process was carried out with statements like 'Brother, this place does the best job; let me have the vehicle done here, it's good.' Özkan Yalım has 300 Mercedes trucks and gets a special discount at Mercedes. When buying a car for the party, he facilitated a discount through this, thus protecting the money paid by the party and the state. There may have been some additions inside the car, but nothing went into my personal pocket. Ultimately, whether the party paid for this with state funds under the supervision of the Constitutional Court or in another way, it's the same. Nevertheless, we conducted international correspondence just in case, and wrote to the company and everyone else. If there is any public loss, it will be compensated; after all, it is taken from one pocket of the state and placed in another."
WHAT DID ÖZKAN YALIM SAY? Arrested on charges of "forming an organization to commit a crime," "tender rigging in public institutions," and "extortion and bribery through coercion," CHP-affiliated Uşak Mayor Özkan Yalım, who was later suspended from duty, testified under effective remorse provisions.
"I GAVE ÖZGÜR ÖZEL 200 THOUSAND LIRA AND 1 MILLION LIRA IN CASH" In his statement to the prosecutor's office, Özkan Yalım said: "I had sent one gift bag each to Özgür Özel's daughter and wife because a friend of mine makes bags. Later, Özgür Özel called me and asked for another bag. I think he wanted this bag to give as a gift to a woman he liked. In 2019, I bought a watch for my own use, the brand of which I don't remember now, valued at approximately 5-6 thousand lira at that time. While I was at the parliament, group chairman Özgür Özel said he really liked the watch, so I bought another one of the same watch and gifted it to him. Later, during a speech he gave in Manisa, high amounts were reported in the press regarding this watch because he was wearing it, so Özgür Özel called me, and I told him it was 5-6 thousand lira at that time. This watch was gifted by me. At the end of 2023, I gave 200 thousand lira and 1 million lira in cash to Özgür Özel, who was then the CHP group chairman, to be used for the expenses of the congresses held before the party congress. I took the 200 thousand lira in cash to Özgür Özel's house in Manisa. When I got close to the house, I called Özgür Özel. He told me to leave the money on the garden wall in a bag. I left the 200 thousand lira in a bag on the garden wall as he said and left. I delivered the 1 million lira in cash in a bag to a person named Demirkan, whom I know as a close friend of Özgür Özel, near the CHP provincial headquarters in Denizli, on Özgür Özel's instructions."
"I WORKED TO GET ÖZGÜR ÖZEL ELECTED AS CHAIRMAN BY TALKING TO DELEGATES" Yalım said: "I gave the money to be used for the expenses of the congresses before the congress. During the time I was a congress delegate, I also talked to delegates to convince them to elect Özgür Özel as chairman and worked on this. On the day I was detained in Ankara, Seher A., who was in the same room with me, is a regular employee of the municipality. The phone seized from Seher A. on that day is my personal phone, but it has two SIM cards. One of these lines is registered under my own company, and the other is a municipal line, so I gave the phone to Seher A. before the search to take it to the municipality. She had no intention of committing any crime in this matter."