03.06.2025 14:41
The statement of former CHP deputy Aykut Erdoğdu, who was detained in the fifth wave operation targeting the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (İBB), has emerged. Rejecting the allegations against him, Erdoğdu stated, "This is a personal vendetta or a slander made by Ertan Yıldız to save himself. I have been detained without any concrete evidence against me."
The former CHP deputy Aykut Erdoğdu, who was detained on May 31 during the 5th wave operation organized by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office against the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) on charges of "receiving, giving, and mediating bribes" and "exerting influence," gave a statement at the Istanbul Police Department.
Erdoğdu was accused of "establishing, managing, and being a member of an organization for the purpose of committing a crime," "bribery," "interfering with a tender," "interfering with the performance of an obligation," "exerting influence," and "qualified fraud."
"IT IS A LIE THAT I WENT TO YILDIZ WITH MONEY AND HANDED IT TO KELEŞ"
Erdoğdu stated that he did not accept the claims made by Ertan Yıldız, the advisor to Ekrem İmamoğlu, who is one of the suspects in the "corruption" investigation against IMM and was later reported to have become a "collaborator" to benefit from the provisions of "effective remorse," that Yıldız gave 1 million 200 thousand dollars to IMM Sports Club President Fatih Keleş in a bag. He said, "The allegations that I went to Ertan Yıldız with money and handed the money to Fatih Keleş are lies. Ertan Yıldız and I had occasional discussions due to the appointments of the Secretary General. For this reason, he may have made such a statement about me."
"I HAD GUIDED IT WITH PUBLIC BENEFIT IN MIND"
When asked whether he had a meeting regarding the transfer of the "Regular Storage Area for Coal in Kömürcüoda" to a company titled Vega Hereke, despite not being mentioned in the board of directors' decision, Erdoğdu stated, "I had guided a family operating in the field of renewable energy to IMM for discussions, considering the public benefit. The only reason for my involvement in this matter is that there is a significant public interest. Later, they told me that they suffered losses from this job and faced some obstacles. There was no exchange of money or any conversation in this regard during my meetings," he was reported to have said.
Erdoğdu, regarding the joint base offering with Fatih Keleş and Ertan Yıldız, stated that he frequently went to IMM and said, "Therefore, we may have made a joint base offer."
"I BLOCKED ÖZKAN GÖNÜL"
Regarding his conversations with Özkan Gönül, Erdoğdu said, "Özkan Gönül is a friend of ours from CHP. He is wholeheartedly devoted to Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu. He knows that I also love Kemal Bey. He has occasionally expressed grievances regarding our statements about the IMM investigation. The matters mentioned in the correspondence are related to news in the press. The evaluations are his own. I have no statement. I have already blocked him," he was reported to have said.
"THERE HAS NEVER BEEN ANY MATERIAL BENEFIT"
Erdoğdu, who stated that he was the Deputy Chairman of the CHP responsible for the Economy and Business World during the period in question, reportedly said the following in his statement:
"It was my duty to convey requests and complaints from the business world to the relevant authorities due to my position. In this context, I conveyed a request regarding renewable energy, which would greatly contribute to the Turkish economy and IMM, to someone from IMM authorities whose name I do not remember. There has never been any material benefit. I did not act as an intermediary in this regard. I reject all these allegations. As far as I understand from my statement, the transaction is one that was made during the AK Party period. The contract transfer process took place in 2020. Therefore, I have no connection with this contract. My relations with Ertan Yıldız were mostly not good. It is a slander made out of personal animosity or an attempt by Ertan Yıldız to save himself. I have been detained without any concrete evidence against me. I do not accept the accusations. I demand to be released immediately."