Second day of the Aziz İhsan Aktaş case! The city's first female mayor made a defense.

28.01.2026 14:30

The first hearing of the case "Aziz İhsan Aktaş organized crime group" continues on the second day. The detained defendant, the first elected female mayor of Seyhan, Oya Tekin, who is defending herself in court, said, "It is necessary to record these cases in history. The indictment only covers the years 2022-2023. I was elected on March 31, 2024. I am here not because I took bribes, but because I did not take bribes. If I had done what they wanted, I would not be here today."

The indictment prepared regarding the allegation of bribery given to the mayors, including detained Beşiktaş Mayor Rıza Akpolat, detained Avcılar Mayor Utku Caner Çaykara, detained Seyhan Mayor Oya Tekin, detained Ceyhan Mayor Kadir Aydar, detained Adana Metropolitan Mayor Zeydan Karalar, and Adıyaman Mayor Abdurrahman Tutdere, who was released and reinstated, by an alleged organized crime group led by Aziz İhsan Aktaş, claimed that the tender processes were organized through bribery. 200 defendants appeared before the judge for the first time yesterday.

SECOND DAY OF THE HEARING

On the second day of the hearing held at the Marmara Penal Institutions Silivri Campus by the Istanbul 1st Heavy Criminal Court, some detained and non-detained defendants and the lawyers of the parties were present. On the other hand, CHP Chairman Özgür Özel, CHP Istanbul Provincial Chairman Özgür Çelik, and many party members and deputies attended the hearing.

"IT IS NECESSARY TO NOTE THESE CASES IN HISTORY"

Oya Tekin, the detained Mayor of Adana Seyhan, who was removed from office, stated in her defense, "It is necessary to note these cases in history. When we look at the elements of the crime, the person referred to as a public official is me. I am the Mayor of Seyhan. There is no allegation against me regarding bribery, nor is there any meeting, but we come and see that I am being tried for the crime of accepting bribes. I have been in Silivri prison for 9 months. This situation is very important for our country and society. I was arrested without sufficient evidence. With this indictment, my right to be presumed innocent and my right to not be stained have been completely disregarded," she said.

"AKTAŞ, WHO IS BEING TRIED FOR ORGANIZED LEADERSHIP, CAME WITH A PRIVATE VEHICLE AND BODYGUARDS"

Oya Tekin said, "I am the first elected female mayor of Adana. When I came here, I was a 13-14 month old mayor. However, I am also a lawyer with 30-35 years of experience. As a lawyer, I have always paid attention to historical cases throughout my professional life. I want to emphasize two particular issues here. We appeared in court here yesterday. We came as mayors, as detainees. During the hearing, we have no means to follow the press or receive news. After we went downstairs, we could not even meet with our lawyers. The food issue is the same. We asked, 'Can we have a tea?'; these are extremely basic human needs. However, none of these were possible. I want you to evaluate all of this as follows: the right to defense is a very sacred right. For years, I have been a means of the quest for rights of people with great faith. However, while using this sacred right to defense, we could not even have a tea or coffee yesterday. I learned from the press yesterday that Aziz İhsan Aktaş, who is being tried for organized leadership, came to the hearing with a private vehicle and bodyguards," she stated.

"IF MY STATEMENT HAD BEEN CONSIDERED HOLISTICALLY, IT WOULD HAVE BEEN EXTREMELY REAL"

Emphasizing that her statements are consistent, Tekin said, "In the indictment, HTS records became evidence. The prosecutor of the indictment is evaluating the evidence. The indictment states that I was not aware of the tenders that were made. There is no such thing; I was not asked a question in the indictment so that I could give an answer. The indictment claims that my statements are inconsistent within themselves. If my statement had been considered and evaluated holistically, my statements would have been extremely real and aimed at clarifying the events," she expressed.

"I AM HERE NOT BECAUSE I ACCEPTED BRIBES, BUT BECAUSE I DID NOT"

Defendant Tekin continued her defense, saying, "I was only able to prepare for this case under prison conditions, with a lack of computers and resources. At least 3 people from my ward were released as informants by giving names to get out of here. Aziz İhsan Aktaş gave my name to settle accounts with Seyhan Municipality. Eight months is a huge trouble. I am detained without any suspicion. I got to know Aziz İhsan Aktaş during visits after the elections; he came to congratulate me. At first, it was, 'a female mayor cannot be, then this woman cannot be, then what will we do with this woman?' They tried to make it impossible for me to do my job. There was no budget; I collected the phones allocated to the directors. The municipality started to receive seizures every day. They said, 'We will seize the office,' and I said, 'the streets are my office.' They wanted to end my political life. I did my job not with my own money but with the resources of Seyhan Municipality. I am here not because I accepted bribes, but because I did not accept bribes. If I had done what they wanted, I would not be here today. I learned about Aziz İhsan Aktaş's arrest from the news. Some citizens of Seyhan who followed the news at that time congratulated me for not having made a tender with Aktaş," she said.

"THE INDICTMENT MENTIONS 2022-2023, I WAS ELECTED IN 2024"

Addressing the allegations in the indictment, Oya Tekin said, "I am the Mayor of Seyhan. My spouse is a freelance lawyer in Adana. My spouse goes to Ankara to meet with Aziz İhsan Aktaş. Aziz İhsan Aktaş has a receivable from the municipality, but he cannot collect this receivable. He says, 'We cannot get this.' Later, he asks for money and allegedly gives one million dollars to my spouse. Of course, some politicians are also mentioned here. This is my crime. Excuse me, this is the alleged crime. Neither does Aziz İhsan Aktaş say that he met with me, nor is there any conversation about me there, nor is my name mentioned in the statements. Nevertheless, I am included in the indictment in parentheses. So what is the crime? Accepting bribes. The indictment only mentions the years 2022-2023. I was elected on March 31, 2024. I am talking about a nine-month detention period. The indictment mentions payments made. The prosecutor states that 220 million TL has been identified. Look at the formed opinion: 'Oya Tekin, after being elected mayor from the Republican People's Party, this amount corresponds to 10-11% of the total receivable of the municipality,' says the prosecutor. Normally, you would ask the question, but here I want to ask a question: What is this 10-11%? I do not know this. Look at the grounds that create sufficient suspicion and opinion. It is entirely based on personal feelings, emotions, and comments. I really wanted to get the answer to this. Because I still cannot explain this to myself," she stated.

"MY SPOUSE HAS NO CONNECTION TO THE MUNICIPALITY"

During the defense, the presiding judge asked the defendant, "Does your spouse have any connection to the municipality?" to which defendant Oya Tekin replied, "No, there is no such thing."

A 1-hour break was given to the hearing.

Source: İHA, DHA