23.03.2025 10:00
Murat Ongun, the Chairman of the Board of Media AŞ, was arrested in connection with corruption and terrorism investigations targeting the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM).
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The deputy of the Mayor of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, Ekrem İmamoğlu, who was detained as part of the terrorism and corruption investigations against the municipality, Murat Ongun, the Chairman of Media AŞ, has been arrested.
HIS STATEMENT AT THE PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE HAS EMERGED
Ongun's statement taken by the Organized Crimes Bureau of the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office has emerged. In his statement, Ongun mentioned that he knew some of the individuals he was asked about from his time working at Beylikdüzü Municipality and others from his time at İBB, explaining his relationships with Emrah Bağdatlı, Murat Nihat Sütlaş, and Elif Atayman.
"IT IS NOT POSSIBLE FOR ME TO CRITICIZE MY OWN COMPANY"
Murat Ongun, who was played audio recordings allegedly belonging to him on social media, stated, "As far as I remember, it belongs to a meeting from 2019. Discussions were held on programmatic advertising at this meeting. I am someone who, in principle, wants the institution I work for to do the best job at the best price. In this context, we developed various applications and made them available to the citizens of Istanbul. We developed these applications to make citizens' lives easier. When the parts of the speech that belong to me are examined, I express my criticism towards the company named R.I. It is not possible for me to criticize my own company. It will be understood from the transcripts of the speech that I am not related to the content regarding the company," he said.
"IF IT IS IMPLIED THAT I DO MY JOB WELL, I HAVE NOTHING TO SAY"
In his statement, Ongun said, "In response to the claim that I am the person managing media operations against me, if it is implied that I do my job well, I have nothing to say. However, I do not carry out character assassinations or slander against anyone through social media or with an army of trolls. Regarding the claim that I have become disproportionately wealthy and live a life disproportionate to my income, a previous investigation was conducted by the Ministry of Interior about me. Nothing negative came out. I was acquitted regarding the claim that I received a peace fee from the municipality," he said.
"I DO NOT CONSIDER SUCH A THING FOR MYSELF"
Ongun stated, "The claims regarding whether I provided financial support to journalists are not true. I come from a journalism background. I do not consider such a thing for myself. Among those mentioned, Soner Yalçın's financial situation is very good. I have been friends with him since 1996. These claims are not true and are sometimes shared on social media," he said.
HIS ASSETS HAVE BEEN SEIZED
The assets of Murat Ongun, the Advisor to the Mayor of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB) and Chairman of İBB Media AŞ, have been seized by the peace criminal court upon the request of the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office. Additionally, it has been learned that all assets of Muhittin Palazoğlu and Ertan Yıldız have also been seized as part of the ongoing investigations.
WHO IS MURAT ONGUN?
Murat Ongun was born on April 21, 1975, in Ankara. Originally from Giresun, he completed his university education at the Faculty of Communication of Ankara University. He is a former spokesperson for the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality.
He currently continues his role as the manager of the Beylikdüzü Volleyball İhtisas Women's Team and the volleyball branch responsibility. After graduating in 1996, he started working as a reporter for Show News in Ankara. In the following years, he moved to Istanbul and continued his profession at Star TV and ATV.
After the establishment of Habertürk TV on September 3, 2001, he continued to work at the channel in both reporter and administrative positions. After Ekrem İmamoğlu was elected as the Mayor of Beylikdüzü in the 2014 local elections, he served as his advisor. Following Ekrem İmamoğlu's election as the Mayor of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality in the 2019 local elections, he was appointed as the spokesperson for the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality.
On May 17, 2022, after Ekrem İmamoğlu announced that the position of İBB Spokesperson was abolished, his spokesperson role ended. He currently continues to serve as the Chairman of the Board of Media A.Ş., a subsidiary of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality.
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