17.06.2026 00:10
The statement of Bora Balcıoğlu, the arrested and suspended Mayor of Silivri Municipality under investigation, has emerged from police custody. In his statement, Balcıoğlu responded to allegations that he purchased a villa under his wife's name shortly after the election, saying, "I bought the oldest villa in the complex for 10 million TL one month after being elected as mayor." However, the former owner of the villa claimed that he sold the property for 30 million TL.
The investigation initiated by the Silivri Chief Public Prosecutor's Office against Silivri Municipality for the crimes of 'establishing and managing an organization for the purpose of committing crimes,' 'being a member of an organization,' 'accepting/giving bribes,' 'extortion,' 'influence peddling,' 'misuse of office,' 'bid rigging,' 'fraud in contract performance,' 'causing zoning pollution,' and 'laundering assets derived from crime' continues.
11-HOUR STATEMENT REVEALED
The statement of Mayor Bora Balcıoğlu, who was arrested and suspended from duty as part of the investigation, at the Istanbul Police Department Financial Crimes Branch Directorate lasted approximately 11 hours.
In his statement, Balcıoğlu said he did not accept the charges against him and therefore did not wish to benefit from the provisions of effective remorse. When asked whether he, on his own behalf or through any relative, owned a Rolex brand watch, Balcıoğlu replied that he did not have a watch of that brand.
Stating that he had no knowledge of gendarmerie personnel who were or would be hired as municipal police officers, Balcıoğlu claimed that he did not know that Mustafa Demirayak was hired as a municipal police officer and that the personnel directorate handled such matters. Balcıoğlu stated that he learned during his statement about the claim that financial benefits were obtained from those trying to get jobs by using his name and that of his assistant Emine Hanım, and he argued that they did not ask anyone for money.
“HE FELT ENTITLED BECAUSE HE HELPED WITH ELECTION CAMPAIGNS, SO HE BROKE AND CHANGED THE CAFE’S LOCK”
When asked whether the Silivri CHP District Chairman had the authority to rent out a municipal property, and about the process of tendering and renting out municipal real estate, Balcıoğlu stated that they continued to operate the social facility as the municipality and that the CHP District Chairman had no authority to rent out a municipal property.
Denying the allegations regarding the transfer of the workplace named 'Paris Cafe,' Balcıoğlu claimed that K.D., whom he met through former CHP District Chairman İbrahim Kömür, felt entitled because he helped with election campaigns, broke and changed the lock of this cafe, and put up a banner saying 'We are at your service soon.' Balcıoğlu emphasized that they went to the cafe with the gendarmerie commander and soldiers, replaced the broken lock as the municipality, and reopened it to serve the people of Silivri.
ALLEGATION OF '$450,000 IN EXCHANGE FOR SHOP LICENSES'
Balcıoğlu also denied the claim that he received $450,000 in exchange for shop licenses, stating that because Silivri is a small district, it was normal for him and the suspects Naci Aydın and Fatih Yavuz to have data from the same base station.
When asked why the notification of account movements belonging to Silivri Municipality was sent to him, Balcıoğlu replied as follows: 'As the mayor, I did not want to be informed about who was paid what from the municipality's account, so I instructed the relevant deputy mayor and director to have all payments from the municipality's account sent as SMS to my personal number. Therefore, SMS notifications of all money disbursed from the municipal account come to me for informational purposes.'
“I WAS ALREADY TRYING TO BUY A HOUSE BEFORE BEING ELECTED MAYOR”
In his statement, Bora Balcıoğlu was also questioned about allegations that he bought a villa in his wife's name shortly after the election, as well as money transfers based on MASAK data.
Balcıoğlu stated: 'One month after I was elected mayor, I bought the oldest villa in the Sunflower complex, which is 25 years old, for 10,000,000 TL from a person named N.D. I did not carry out a 10-15 million TL renovation on the villa as claimed. The renovations were minor, small repairs. We put this villa in the name of my wife, Hayriye Sena Balcıoğlu. I had the financial means to buy this villa. I had already been living as a tenant in this complex for about 8 years. I had savings from my business, and I was already trying to buy a house before being elected mayor.'
STATEMENT TAKEN FROM THE VILLA'S FORMER OWNER: 'I SOLD IT FOR 30 MILLION TL, NOT 10 MILLION'
N.D., who sold the villa, stated in his testimony taken as part of the investigation: 'I sold the property in question to a person named Hayriye Sena Balcıoğlu. I received 30,000,000 TL from them for the sale of this property. However, 6,000,000 TL of this amount was transferred via bank transfer, and the remaining 24,000,000 TL was handed over to me in cash in dollars by Bora Balcıoğlu personally at the Sunflower homes sales office after the deed transfer. There was no real estate agent involved in this sale. However, the staff at the sales office for the complex helped. I did not pay any fee for their assistance.
As far as I remember, I received 6,000,000 TL via bank transfer. However, the table shown to me here indicates that 10,000,000 TL was sent via bank transfer. I may have remembered incorrectly due to the passage of time. As for the remaining money, as stated above, I received it in cash in dollars directly from Bora Balcıoğlu. I would like to review the past bank receipts and present them to you.'