Beşiktaş Mayor Rıza Akpolat has been arrested.

The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office has completed the procedures of 16 out of 40 suspects, who were referred to the Istanbul Courthouse in Çağlayan after their health checks at Bayrampaşa State Hospital, in the investigation regarding the alleged criminal organization led by Aziz İhsan Aktaş, which is accused of organizing tenders by bribing mayors and senior executives of municipalities.

14 SUSPECTS ARRESTED

After the prosecutor's statements, 14 suspects, including Rıza Akpolat and Aziz İhsan Aktaş, were arrested by the duty magistrate. The court decided to apply judicial control measures for 2 individuals, while the procedures for the other suspects are ongoing.

9 PEOPLE UNDER JUDICIAL CONTROL

Additionally, the suspects for whom the prosecutor requested judicial control, Ahmet Aktaş, Erdal Kavak, Esra Yenidünya, Fatih Alpkaya, Ferhat Keleş, Mehmet Ertaç Aydın, Mustafa Us, Özcan Tunçel, and Ömer Güngör, were subjected to judicial control measures by the duty magistrate.

RIZA AKPOLAT: THIS FRAME-UP CASE IS A CHARACTER ASSASSINATION

Following the arrest of Beşiktaş Mayor Rıza Akpolat, a statement was made on his social media account, saying, "This frame-up case is a character assassination. Our struggle to serve the public has not ended and will not end. The anger of millions fighting for rights, law, and justice will destroy your dark order!"

FIRST REACTION FROM ÖZGÜR ÖZEL: WE WILL NOT SURRENDER TO THIS DIRTY ORDER

CHP Chairman Özgür Özel reacted to the arrest of Beşiktaş Mayor Rıza Akpolat by stating, "We will not surrender to this dirty order." In a statement on his social media account, he said:

"Let everyone know that; the arrest decision given based on a so-called secret witness statement against our Beşiktaş Mayor Rıza Akpolat, without a single piece of evidence, will not make any member of the Republican People's Party take a step back. The mud thrown by the owners of this dirty order, those who keep the spirit of FETÖ alive, has never touched us and will not touch us. We will stand tall with our people, and we will not surrender to this dirty order. Each of our members, every citizen who believes in justice will fight with greater responsibility, and this government, which tramples on law and democracy, will not escape defeat against the will of the nation."

PROSECUTOR'S REFERRAL LETTER REACHED

In Istanbul, the referral letter from the prosecutor regarding the suspects, including Beşiktaş Mayor Rıza Akpolat, who was detained as part of the investigation into the criminal organization, has been obtained. In the prosecutor's referral letter, it was stated that the criminal organization led by Aziz İhsan Aktaş was accused of organizing tender processes by bribing mayors and senior executives of municipalities, and it was noted that companies owned by Aktaş, which he had registered under the names of his siblings and relatives while adhering to confidentiality rules, were identified, and the tender files of these companies were obtained.

The letter stated that Aktaş adhered to confidentiality rules to the extent that his name did not even appear in open-source accounts, and that only the companies Elif LPG and Provek İlaç were registered under his name, while all other companies were registered under others, but it was determined from the collected evidence and the individual's own statement that he was the top person in charge of the companies.

"TENDER FRAUD, BRIBERY, VIOLATION OF TAX PROCEDURE LAW."

In the referral letter, it was stated that the aim of the criminal organization was to obtain tenders from public institutions and organizations and that it acted with this purpose, and it was expressed that "In this context, strong evidence of the crime was obtained, indicating that it achieved its goal by committing crimes such as 'tender fraud', 'obstruction of performance', 'bribery', and 'violation of tax procedure law' and laundered the income obtained from the crime."

The letter noted that Aktaş purchased two vehicles registered under Beşiktaş Mayor Rıza Akpolat's company at a price significantly above their value and offered them for sale at a price below the amount paid, stating, "Shortly after this sale transaction, he purchased a property that was secretly put up for sale by a subsidiary of Beşiktaş Municipality at a price significantly below its value, the money paid for the property was transferred to the municipality, and a large portion of this money was paid as receivables to companies belonging to the criminal organization. It was noted that four companies belonging to the criminal organization had received a number of tenders from Beşiktaş Municipality, and that the company named İldeniz Organizasyon, registered under the name of Gökçe Aktaş, an employee of the criminal organization leader, was located in Beşiktaş district, and that this company had also received numerous tenders from Beşiktaş Municipality, and that the spouse of a person working in the companies of the criminal organization leader was hired by Beşiktaş Municipality and assigned to tender commissions."

"THE MUNICIPALITY WHERE AZIZ İHSAN AKTAŞ'S CRIMINAL ORGANIZATION WAS MOST ACTIVE"

In the referral letter, it was stated that the organization under investigation also received tenders in the Bağlar district of Diyarbakır, and it was noted that "Due to this issue, there is a publicized investigation, and a person named Ferhat Tutşi was brought from Bağlar Municipality and appointed as the director of support services, which is the tender unit of Beşiktaş Municipality, and it was stated that the Beşiktaş Municipality was the municipality where the criminal organization led by Aziz İhsan Aktaş was most active."

The letter indicated that personal trade was also conducted between Aktaş and Rıza Akpolat, stating, "There is strong evidence based on concrete evidence that the money paid for the vehicle was bribery money. Considering Rıza Akpolat's continuous and intense actions and his personal relationship with the criminal organization, it has been understood that there is strong evidence based on concrete evidence that he is included in the hierarchical structure of the organization and is a member of the criminal organization."

“Strong evidence of criminal suspicion exists.”

“STRONG SUSPICION OF CRIMINAL ACTIVITY EXISTS”

In the dispatch letter stating that the suspect Alican Abacı is the Deputy Mayor of Beşiktaş and a member of the Board of Directors of Beltaş, the following was recorded:

“When the documents regarding the properties sold by Beltaş were requested, it was noted that the initial board decision could not be found, and since there was suspicion that the board decisions presented later were not made on the dates specified in the documents, a report was prepared regarding this matter. When the signal information of the individuals with signatures was examined, it was established that they were not at Beltaş on the dates of the mentioned decisions. Additionally, when the statements of the board members were evaluated together, some stated that their signatures were made at Beltaş, while others indicated that they had never been to Beltaş. This leads to the conclusion that the decision regarding the sale of the property was made later to create a legal justification for an unlawful property sale, and thus it was prepared falsely and contrary to the truth, and there is strong suspicion based on concrete evidence that the suspect Alican Abacı committed the alleged crime.”

The dispatch letter stated that the suspect İbrahim Halil Çalış was the Deputy Mayor during the period of the tender subject to investigation at Esenyurt Municipality and initiated the tender process, while the suspect Mustafa Yolcu was reported to have served as a director.

DETECTION OF FOUR SUSPECTS COMMITTING THE CRIME OF TENDER FRAUD

The letter stated that the suspect Ümit Gözütok, a member of the criminal organization, was involved in pre-tender discussions at the municipality, including Mustafa Yolcu, and played a role in the preparation process of the technical specifications. It was also noted that the suspects Müzeyyen Karakaş and Cem Alper Akyüz were part of the commission for the tampered tender, and the expert reports in the file indicated that all four suspects committed the crime of “tender fraud.”

It was recorded in the letter that the suspect Mehmet Büyükgüzel kept records of the bribe money given to public officials conducting the tender as part of the organization’s goal and had access to the most confidential information within the organization. Considering that the organization would not assign this task to anyone it did not trust, there is strong suspicion based on concrete evidence that the suspect is a member of the criminal organization.

In the dispatch letter, it was requested that the suspects be arrested due to the scope of the file, the stage it has reached, the fact that some evidence has not yet been collected, the digital materials have not been examined, the preparation process of the MASAK report, the size of the income gained from the crime related to the tender entered by the criminal organization, and the suspects' flight risk.