14.08.2026 09:30
37 people, including Alihan Kuris, the leader of the community known publicly as 'Suleymancis', were detained as part of an operation conducted by the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office. Among those detained is also Prof. Dr. Ahmet Gokcen, the architect of the new Turkish Penal Code that came into effect in 2005, a former member of the High Council of Judges and Prosecutors, and a faculty member at Marmara University Faculty of Law.
Within the scope of the investigation conducted by the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office into the criminal organization aimed at generating profit, led by Alihan Kuriş, on charges of "laundering assets derived from crime," "fraud against public institutions and organizations," and "violation of the Tax Procedure Law," a simultaneous operation was carried out on August 13. In the operation, 33 of the 49 suspects against whom proceedings were initiated were captured and taken into custody. While it was determined that 9 suspects were abroad, it was reported that efforts to capture 7 suspects were ongoing. With 4 more people taken into custody within the scope of the investigation, the number of detentions rose to 37.
IT WAS AN OPERATION LONG IN THE MAKING
Minister of Interior Mustafa Çiftçi also stated in his statement, "We know they built a giant headquarters in Cologne, Germany, with an investment of 70 million dollars. When this building is completed, they were planning to move all their activities there. It was an operation long in the making targeting the financial foundations of the organization."
100 BILLION TL WAS TAKEN ABROAD
In MASAK examinations, it was determined that an amount exceeding 100 billion TL was taken abroad through various methods via individuals and companies linked to the organization, while trustees were appointed to companies suspected of money laundering and related assets.
ONE OF THE ARCHITECTS OF THE NEW TURKISH PENAL CODE
One of the 37 people detained in the investigation was Prof. Dr. Ahmet Gökçen. Gökçen was among those who served on the disciplinary investigation commission at Marmara University that demanded the expulsion of Peace Academics and signed the decision. Gökçen, one of the architects of the new Turkish Penal Code that came into effect in 2005, was also the lawyer of attorney Rezan Epözdemir. Additionally, Gökçen had undertaken the defense of the defendants in the Aladağ dormitory fire case, where 11 children died.
WHAT HAD HAPPENED?
According to the statement made by the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, a MASAK report was prepared about the suspects and companies belonging to the criminal organization within the scope of the investigation conducted on charges of "establishing and managing a criminal organization," "being a member of a criminal organization," "laundering assets derived from crime," "fraud against public institutions and organizations," and "violation of the tax procedure law."
In the MASAK report, it was determined that the financial transaction volumes of many of the organization's companies increased significantly after 2020, the companies underwent division and transfer procedures, new companies were established with quite high capital during company divisions, and the newly established companies were located in different provinces from the dividing companies and had different fields of activity than the divided company.
In the report, which stated that some companies had no resources other than capital, did not conduct active trade, but financed the subsidiaries item with the said capital, it was noted that the criminal organization aimed to prevent access to the records of the companies and to make it difficult to track financial transactions through this method.
The report, which included information that transfer purchases were detected in most of the companies through various payment institutions, stated that there was a high cash circulation in the companies, high amounts of cash inflows whose sources were unexplained were made to the companies by their partners, and these cash inflows were used as a source by the company partners in the capital increases of the companies.
The report also stated that the high amounts deposited into company accounts were transferred to the analyzed companies in a striking manner, and high amounts of money were transferred to various companies from the transfers coming from payment institutions and the cash deposited amounts.
"FOREIGN CURRENCY TRANSFERS INCONSISTENT WITH RECORDS"
In the report, which stated that it was observed that the companies conducted high-amount transactions with other legal entities in their goods purchase-sale records, it was noted that the presence of high-amount goods purchase-sale transactions with various legal entities was remarkable in terms of fake invoicing, that there were foreign currency transfer inflows from various companies abroad inconsistent with the records in the company accounts, that some of the companies received high tax refunds, and that the financial transactions might have been carried out as a result of organized work.
In this context, a simultaneous operation was organized in 17 provinces, primarily Istanbul, Ankara, and Antalya, against the criminal organization led by Alihan Kuriş for profit.
Within the scope of the operation, it was decided to detain 49 suspects, some of whom were determined to be abroad, and to conduct search and seizure operations at 43 addresses belonging to the suspects and 80 addresses belonging to 33 companies.
It was reported that 33 suspects, including Kuriş, were taken into custody, 9 of the suspects were determined to be abroad, and efforts to capture 7 of them were ongoing.