19.03.2025 11:41
The names of 99 suspects against whom an arrest warrant has been issued for charges including "being a leader of a criminal organization," "being a member of a criminal organization," "bribery," "corruption," "qualified fraud," "illegally obtaining personal data," and "interfering with a tender" have been revealed, including Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IBB) President Ekrem İmamoğlu. A total of 84 people have been detained in two operations. Procedures regarding the other suspects are ongoing.
The police raided the home of Ekrem İmamoğlu, the Mayor of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM), whose diploma was revoked by Istanbul University, early this morning. In a statement from the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, İmamoğlu was referred to as a "leader of a criminal organization," and it was announced that detention orders had been issued for 99 individuals. Following this decision, İmamoğlu was taken into custody.
According to the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, the investigation regarding the "money counting" footage in the CHP is ongoing, based on the statements of witnesses who testified that "many individuals, including IMM President İmamoğlu, forced businessmen to give money, gained unfair profits by collaborating with some businessmen, and laundered money obtained from crimes by using 'secret cash' civil individuals in money transfers and collections through pawn individuals."
84 PEOPLE IN CUSTODY
A detention order had been issued for 106 suspects as part of the investigation. It was learned that 84 of the suspects had been detained, while efforts to capture 22 suspects were still ongoing.
HERE IS THE COMPLETE LIST OF THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN ISSUED DETENTION ORDERS
The names of those who have been issued detention orders as part of the investigation are as follows:
"Ekrem İmamoğlu, Murat Ongun, Murat Çalık, Tuncay Yılmaz, Fatih Keleş, Emrah Bağdatlı, Mustafa Nihat Sütlaş, Murat Kapki, Orçun Muhittin Yılmaz, Hüseyin Köksal, Adem Soytekin, Ali Nuhoğlu, Ertan Yıldız, Ali Gül, Zafer Gül, Serdal Taşkın, Barış Kılıç, Servet Yıldırım, Mehmet Erdoğan, Güldem Işık, Ceyda Kıryak, Kadir Öztürk, Ömür Yılmaz, Merthan Açıl, Tolga Özgen, Erhan Uslu, Hakan Atınç Dayıgil, Murat Kanbur, Emre Serkan Bayraktar, Vahit Doğan, Fatoş Ayık, Hüseyin Ekrem Fidan, Seda Hoşel Kiraz, Sergen Kurt, Yusuf Yüce, Ercan Saatçi, Mehmet Muhittin Palazoğlu, Furkan Remzi Ceylan, Süleyman Atik, Hakan Karanis, Elif Güven, Nihat Uçan, Birsen Şahin, Canan Mümüklü, Can Akın Çağlar, Cemal Ufuk Karakaya, Buğra Gökçe, Kağan Sürmegöz, Bayram Taşkın, Ebru Yılmazlar, Gürkan Akgün, Murat Abbas, Doğan Hamit Doğruer, Halit Burak Atalan, Bilal Önver, İlker Durademir, İpek Elif Atayman, İlknur Taşdelen, Burak Arslan, Samih Asan, Emrah Öksüz, Onur Buğra Subaşı, Eyüp Subaşı, Gülşah Subaşı, Ahmet Köksal, Serhat Kapki, Yusuf İlbak, Ali İlbak, Murat İlbak, Mustafa İlbak, Umut Şenol, Mete Sarısaltun, Edip Cenk Ünalerzen, İrfan Karakaş, İnan Boztaş, Ahmet Taha Bilgin, Kamil Timur Delibaş, Alihan Aydın, Alper Aydın, Alperen Aydın, Ahmet Palazoğlu, Kaan Ketenci, Ahmet Hamdi Çiçek, Hacı Ahmet Gül, Serkan Öztürk, Necati Özkan, Kabil Taşçı, Vedat Şahin, Serdar Haydanlı, Yaşar Çeri, Emin Ferhat Ertek, Harun Cengiz Beğenmez, Hasan Öçsoy, Ahmet Çiçek, Adem Tuncay, Rauf Cem Istıranca, Ömer Gürsoy, Uğurhan Atma, Özge Bağdatlı, Fatoş Pınar Türker."
TWO SEPARATE INVESTIGATIONS
It was stated that the operation involving more than 100 individuals is related to Media A. Ş. tenders, urban reconciliation, and a terrorism investigation. The statements indicate that two separate investigations have been initiated against İmamoğlu and the defendants.
The first investigation is related to the structure called "Urban Reconciliation." In this investigation, detention orders were issued for Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, IMM Deputy Secretary General Mahir Polat, and Şişli Mayor Resul Ekrem Şahan.
The second investigation is related to corruption allegations. In this investigation, it was claimed that İmamoğlu placed individuals he worked with during his tenure as the Mayor of Beylikdüzü into the IMM and that they received contracts at prices significantly above their value by submitting high-priced bids for the services of companies owned by the Metropolitan Municipality, such as Meyda A. Ş. and Kültür A. Ş. It was also stated that "bribes were demanded from many active businesses, and attempts were made to forcibly collect money from victims who did not accept."
CORRUPTION INVESTIGATION
In a written statement from the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, it was reported that the investigation regarding the "money counting" footage in the CHP was initiated following the report obtained from the statements of witnesses who testified that "many individuals, including IMM President İmamoğlu, forced businessmen to give money, gained unfair profits by collaborating with some businessmen, and laundered money obtained from crimes by using 'secret cash' civil individuals in money transfers and collections through pawn individuals."
In the investigation, it was noted that İmamoğlu was the leader of a criminal organization, and it was stated that individuals who had been with him since his tenure as the Mayor of Beylikdüzü were appointed to the units and subsidiaries of the Metropolitan Municipality after he became the IMM President. It was determined that the suspects, who created their own sub-structures to ensure the continuation of the criminal organization, committed crimes such as "manipulating tenders," "qualified fraud," "illegally obtaining personal data," "bribery," and "extortion" in an organized manner through irregular tenders in many municipal subsidiaries.
The statement included that "the organization members obtained high-priced bids for the service procurement of the Metropolitan Municipality subsidiaries, Media A. Ş. and Kültür A. Ş., through companies established in the names of themselves and their employees, determining the final price themselves, and that many of the jobs they received were incomplete, some of which were fictitious, and that they laundered the money they obtained for personal enrichment as well as for the activities of the criminal organization."
It was stated that the suspects illegally obtained the personal data of citizens living in Istanbul and used it for the continuity of the organization, and it was understood that the organization members who won tenders from Media A. Ş., Kültür A. Ş., KİPTAŞ, and İSFALT transferred the first advance payments they received from the municipality either to construction sites owned by İmamoğlu or made material transfers to their companies.
It was reported that the payments of businessmen who won jobs as a result of open tenders from the Metropolitan Municipality were not made, and the statement continued:
"It was understood that the money obtained through threats was subsequently paid, and that bribes were demanded from many active businesses, and attempts were made to forcibly collect money from victims who did not accept, based on decisions obtained from municipal councils. It was determined through MASAK reports, tax expert examinations, witness statements, and other evidence that the properties obtained through the crimes of 'bribery' and 'extortion' were registered in the names of businessmen used as the organization's cash."
In this context, a total of 100 suspects, including the suspect identified as the leader of the criminal organization, Ekrem İmamoğlu, and the suspects in positions of organization management, Murat Ongun, Tuncay Yılmaz, Fatih Keleş, Ertan Ertan, and 95 suspects connected to these suspects, have been issued simultaneous capture, detention, search, and seizure orders for the crimes of 'being a leader of a criminal organization,' 'being a member of a criminal organization,' 'extortion,' 'bribery,' 'qualified fraud,' 'illegally obtaining personal data,' and 'manipulating tenders' by the Istanbul Police Department's Financial Crimes Investigation Unit.
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It has been learned that some suspects were detained as part of the investigation.
TERROR INVESTIGATION
In the second statement made by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, it was reported that the leaders of the terrorist organization PKK/KCK, Cemil Bayık and Mustafa Karasu, conveyed their views and instructions to the terrorist organization through pro-organization media before the local elections held on March 31, 2024, with the aim of increasing the activities of the organization, especially in metropolitan cities like Istanbul, through the "city consensus" activity.
In the statement, it was noted that findings regarding the alliance of the terrorist organization with the Peoples' Democratic Congress (HDK) based on the "city consensus" of İBB President Ekrem İmamoğlu were announced by pro-organization media, and simultaneous capture and detention operations were carried out against HDK members in many provinces, especially in Istanbul, and that investigations are still ongoing.
The statement indicated that upon examining the municipal council members elected from the CHP quota and the appointed deputy mayors, it was pointed out that some of them had connections with the terrorist organization, and the following expressions were included:
"Just a few days before the local elections on March 31, 2024, it was found that they registered as members of the CHP, and it was determined that a total of 10 individuals, including the Deputy Mayors of Ataşehir and Kartal and 8 İBB council members, were listed in HDK data and were identified as members of the organization, and they were detained and arrested within the scope of our investigations. In addition to these individuals, 8 municipal council members were arrested based on other connections to the terrorist organization outside of HDK, and it is understood that a total of 18 members of the terrorist organization have been arrested as described so far, and investigations into the remaining suspects are ongoing."
According to the information and documents obtained during the investigation, İBB President Ekrem İmamoğlu, İBB Deputy Secretary General Mahir Polat, Şişli Mayor Resul Emrah Şahan, Reform Institute President Mehmet Ali Çalışkan, fugitive suspect A. B., who was found to be active in the ideological field structure of the PKK/KCK terrorist organization, H. A., an employee of Spectrum House owned by A. B., who was identified in relation to the transfer of personnel to the rural area of the terrorist organization in 2018, and Şişli Deputy Mayor Ebru Özdemir were stated to have participated in the "city consensus" activity together.
It was also stated in the announcement that members/sympathizers of the terrorist organization were hired within the İBB subsidiary Istanbul Planning Agency and BİMTAŞ, and it continued as follows:
"Considering that suspect Ekrem İmamoğlu determined the lists of municipal council members with the approval of other suspects in the local elections, it is understood that they committed the crime of aiding the PKK/KCK terrorist organization by knowingly participating in the 'city consensus' activity aimed at increasing the effectiveness of the terrorist organization in the metropolises, as expressed by the management of the terrorist organization. Therefore, simultaneous capture, detention, search, and seizure operations have been instructed to be carried out by the Istanbul Police Department's Counter-Terrorism Branch against the aforementioned 7 suspects."
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