11.04.2025 07:52
Journalists Timur Soykan and Murat Ağırel, who were detained early yesterday morning, were released under judicial control by the Istanbul 4th Criminal Court of Peace to which they were referred. The journalists' statements at the court have been obtained, following a complaint filed by Erkan Kork, the owner of Flash TV, who is accused of being an illegal betting baron and is still in custody on charges of money laundering.
Journalists Murat Ağırel and Timur Soykan, who were detained from their homes in Istanbul in the morning hours, were referred to the court with a request for arrest after their statements to the prosecutor's office. The two journalists, who testified at the Istanbul 4th Criminal Court of Peace, were released under judicial control. Their statements at the court have been obtained.
"THERE IS NO BLACKMAIL OR THREAT INVOLVED"
In his defense at the court, Murat Ağırel denied the accusations against him. He stated that he conducted research within the framework of journalism and asked questions to his interlocutors based on the information he obtained, emphasizing that the meeting in question was a natural part of journalistic activity. Ağırel stressed that there was no blackmail or threat involved.
"I CONTACTED HIM TWO MONTHS AFTER FLASH TV WAS SOLD"
Murat Ağırel stated in his defense; "What this person said is not true. It is purely fictional. He is making accusations within a narrative to escape from the recent lawlessness in Istanbul. The prosecutor's office referred us to you without taking our statement. You should listen to the audio recording. I was able to read the petition regarding this person just now. He claims that 'he is pressuring me regarding the sale of Flash TV and doing such things about me.' I tried to reach him two months after Flash TV was sold. I said I would ask questions related to the indictment prepared by Payfix in 2023, and he said, 'Come to the holding building.' I said I am a journalist, I won't come to the holding building. He said, 'There are a lot of documents, how will I come?' I stated that I would not be able to come and that I would call again regarding this. I called Timur Soykan about this to get his opinion. One of the fundamental conditions of journalism is to give the other side the right to respond. We are journalists; I do not think badly of him, we seek the truth, I have the indictment and MASAK. When he called us for the second time, he said, 'This is the safest place, let's meet here.' I said, 'I will meet either at the newspaper or in a public tea garden.' I said, 'I will record the conversation, you should also record it.' We sat in a public garden with Timur Soykan. He brought five folders with his assistant. He answered the questions we asked. He already tried to prevent us from talking. In the MASAK report prepared for the indictment, I am asking how this person, who has been identified as facilitating illegal gambling, obtained a licensed bank from the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency a year later, and he said, 'We reported this.' He said, 'They gave this to me because my business is in order.'
"I SAID 'I AM AGAINST THE BOSSES'"
There is nothing related to Flash TV. When we met two and a half months ago, he had just bought Flash TV, and he said, 'Show me one of my tweets, give me 10 years in prison, I am subject to the law of the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency, if you write me, the consequences will be severe.' This is a threat; he is shamelessly slandering from prison. When this person was caught, two million dollars in cash, 60 kilos of gold, and over a hundred Patek Philippe watches were seized. Look at the police statement; they asked him how much he bought Flash TV for, and he said, 'I bought it for two or four million.' There is a difference of two million between two and four million lira. I came before you with a request for arrest due to what he said from prison. Where have I blackmailed? Can you show me the sentence there? The last thing he said was this; he asked about Flash TV, our conversation ended, he was drinking whiskey, so relaxed, while we were drinking tea and coffee. After our conversation ended, he said, 'You will make news, right?' He asked, 'You know the banking law, right?' He showed documents related to Flash TV beforehand. He said he met with Cafer. I said, 'You are the bosses, you talk among yourselves, I am against the bosses.' Our concern is Payfix; while we should expose what these people have done by believing in the rule of law, these people are trying to have us arrested from prison using the law of the powerful.
"WE ARE TIRED OF THESE PEOPLE, THEY ARE TRYING TO SPLATTER MUD EVERYWHERE"
Do we need to find someone from the upper echelons and give a statement with them, or do we need to sabotage the truth? When did it become a crime to say, 'You have the right to respond, do you want to use it?' regarding a file that started a year ago and has no confidentiality decision? When you arrest Timur Soykan or me, what will we explain? While we defend the rule of law, we are hitting the law that we trust to the ground; where have we seen the referral for arrest with blackmail, call the press organizations, you will see that it is within journalistic ethics. 'This person harbors animosity towards me. After writing these articles, I sent a warning letter to Cumhuriyet Newspaper, there is an indictment, there is MASAK, there are findings, I do not give up, I am writing,' I said. They filed a complaint against me; what do I care about Flash TV? The most important thing is that the public is being defrauded, the oppressed Turkish people are being defrauded, I am being prosecuted due to their complaint for writing about illegal gambling barons. I have a book called 'Dirty Call' that was published in January. I tried to include it in this book, but I couldn't because I couldn't get the indictment; I finally begged the lawyers in my own case, there is no confidentiality decision, I have been tried in hundreds of cases as a complainant and defendant, and I have never been this ashamed. I was referred for arrest based on the slander of a person who is claimed to be an illegal gambling baron who wrote a petition from prison saying I blackmailed him. Listen to the words this person uttered in the audio recording; if there is a crime here, it belongs to me. I brought Timur Soykan to testify; we are tired of these people, they are trying to splatter mud everywhere. Today, a character assassination is taking place here. We stand behind every news we make. I sign each line I write once again. I request my release.
SOYKAN: THE REASON WE ARE HERE IS THE EXISTENCE OF A CRIMINAL STRUCTURE NESTED IN THE JUDICIARY
Timur Soykan also stated in his defense; "I am repeating my statements taken at the police and prosecutor's office regarding the accusations against me as a defense in your court. I do not accept the accusations; I am innocent. I want to start with the question of why I am here. Our lawyers, my colleague Murat Ağırel, have clearly explained the process; the main reason we are here is the existence of a criminal structure nested in the judiciary, there is a structure involved in crime within the judiciary or a structure that operates under political orders. This structure does not want us to do journalism; it wants us to be like the journalists favored by the government. We are not like that; our job is to monitor the government on behalf of the public, to expose the government's wrongdoings, and to convey accurate and true information to the society, which makes it more meaningful to understand why I am here and why I am experiencing this absurdity.
"A PERSON WHO IS AN ILLEGAL GAMBLING BARON."
There is no explanation for this; an illegal gambling baron, both Murat and I are journalists who have been threatened and have fought against various mafia groups involved in illegal gambling for years. While we are fighting this battle, a person who is being prosecuted for being an illegal gambling baron is filing a complaint against us without showing any evidence of any blackmail act.
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This slander is unfortunately taken seriously by a prosecutor, and police are sent to our home at dawn. Our job is to report on illegal betting barons, which is a source of money laundering as significant as drugs, and I am fighting against this in my reports. There is an illegal betting baron, this person who earns dirty money is being tried, and he is a bank owner who has purchased a bank. The person alleged to be an illegal betting baron is said to have managed millions of dollars in money laundering and has an electronic payment method. He can obtain a license for a television channel, which is a huge news story all over the world, especially the banking aspect is a very big deal.
You might wonder why, when a person is being tried for illegal betting, who allowed him to buy a bank? There must be a MASAK report, it must have been approved, and the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK) must have issued a license. He must have passed intelligence reports. Establishing a bank is not a simple matter; criminals cannot establish banks. Criminals cannot obtain a TV channel license, criminals cannot manage electronic payment systems; when we see something like this, we say we must report it. Who gave these licenses to the person named Erkan Kork, who is being tried, who gave the approvals, how can a person alleged to be a money laundering criminal pass inspections? We will also explain this decay. There is a decay in the state and in the judiciary in the country. As journalists, we are tired of writing scandals and being tried for them. This person says he will enter the cryptocurrency market, a person alleged to be an illegal betting baron; they can offer you bribes, they can slander, they are disreputable and characterless people. We said let’s meet this person in an open area. He said come to the bank, we said we won’t go, he stated in his testimony that he called me to his feet, then we said let’s meet at Midpoint, we sat down with folders, and we are asking questions about those files.
"ATTENDING THE WEDDING OF THE BDDK VICE PRESIDENT, WEARING JEWELRY"
He shows his documents, saying he does not engage in illegal betting but is threatened by an illegal company. How can there be a criminal allegation against you, he said, I have no conviction, I can do this, so we recognized his right to respond by meeting with this person; we have an obligation to grant the right to respond to the people we report on, we granted this person the right to respond, and the news was published. Murat's news, there is a statement from the slanderer Erkan Kork, Timur says he did not support this news, on the contrary, this is a very nice news, a news that reveals a very important scandal. At the same time, Timur Soykan says he did not ask questions. No, I did. There is one case against this man. Also, while we were interviewing this person, another investigation was ongoing related to money laundering, we were not aware of this. We are asking questions about the first case, at that moment the police were following the man, they see us there, we are meeting in a public area so that he cannot slander us, we are not eating from his meal knowingly, then during this process he says Timur made the news, we say we are fighting against the decay in Turkey, I recently reported on the scandalous wedding of BDDK Vice President Mustafa Aydın. In this news, I explained that the BDDK vice president is printing invitations, sending this invitation to all bank executives, inviting them to a five-star hotel in Şişli, I couldn’t believe it at first, I said maybe I can watch this wedding, the invited people are asking how much jewelry we should wear. The BDDK is responsible for supervising them, the general managers of big banks agree to wear $10,000 in jewelry, I entered the wedding, everywhere was wreaths, etc., I was able to enter the wedding because it was just a jewelry ceremony, I filmed everyone with my phone, the decay has become so normalized that even those present do not understand its news value, the general managers of banks are trying to show themselves by wearing jewelry to the BDDK president. I thought I would check the video recordings to see if Erkan Kork was there, a man arrested for illegal betting, the person on trial goes to the wedding of the BDDK vice president and wears jewelry.
"HOW DID YOU GIVE A LICENSE TO SUCH A PERSON?"
By coincidence, while pulling the line, I looked there, recognized him by his body structure, I titled it something like he appeared at the scandalous wedding, I received an award for that wedding news. I was supposed to receive an award in Ankara, I couldn’t go to receive my award because the person who wore jewelry to the BDDK president at that wedding, the person who is on trial for illegal betting, without showing any evidence against me, Timur Soykan blackmailed me, we cannot explain this absurdity with this man's personality or his slanders, on April 7, 2025, he connects via SEGBİS to give a statement to the prosecutor, talking about İmamoğlu and Murat Ongun, again without evidence, completely fabricated, based on neither witness nor testimony, and again without any evidence, he will slander us while there is a voice recording, and the prosecutor will take this into account. The prosecutor will refer us without taking our statement, did he make a deal? Prosecutors who do not see our statement as worthy will take this person's statement via SEGBİS and will not ask if there is evidence. Recently, I received another award, my news there was that İsmail Uçarlar was the chief public prosecutor of Anadolu CBS, he wrote a letter to HSK, stating that illegal betting barons, etc., were released by bribed judicial officials in my courthouse, he explained these, access barriers are being imposed on news in exchange for bribes, there is a peace judge, he also gives his name, I have made a lot of news about Veysel Şahin, I reported on him, the news I made was blocked by the peace judge I mentioned due to bribery, while I was receiving the award, access barriers and content removal were imposed on my news, I received an award for a non-existent news, we are journalists, our job is to fight against darkness, our only connection with Flash TV is this, how did you give a license to such a person, how was a bank given, he said something about Flash TV, that boss said to us, but unfortunately, they can slander us as if it were a slander, as I just said, this happens, I will also explain this event with its comedy, a prosecutor at the Istanbul Courthouse requested such a decision, two and a half months ago, he wanted to penalize us for preventing the sale of a channel that was sold, the man says he manages the channel, the prosecutor makes this our reason for arrest, if you are going to arrest us, where is the blackmail, which word, did I send a message saying I will kill you, etc., if you arrest us without showing a single sentence about this, I think it will be described as a legal scandal.
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