Historian and academician Prof. Dr. İlber Ortaylı died due to multiple organ failure in the hospital where he was treated on March 13. A memorial ceremony was held for Ortaylı, who passed away at the age of 78, first at Galatasaray University, and then a funeral ceremony was held at Fatih Mosque.

At the commemoration ceremony held at Galatasaray University, along with his family, students, academics and loved ones, CHP Chairman Özgür Özel, Ankara Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Mansur Yavaş and

Galatasaray President Dursun Özbek also attended. Ortaylı’s daughter, Tuna Ortaylı, said in her statement at the ceremony, “Knowing that you are loved so much and being able to see such a nice reaction makes us very happy and relieves our pain. Thank you very much for coming.”

THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE PRAYED

Ortaylı’s body was brought to Fatih Mosque around 15:00. Police teams took intense security measures in the area where thousands of people gathered. Following the afternoon prayer, the funeral prayer was performed. His family and loved ones bid farewell to Ortaylı with tears.

The body was buried in the Fatih Mosque Cemetery. In addition to thousands of fans of Ortaylı, AK Party Deputy Chairman Binali Yıldırım, AK Party Deputy Chairman and Party Spokesperson Ömer Çelik, Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, Istanbul Governor Davut Gül, former TRNC President Ersin Tatar, Deputy Speaker of the Turkish Grand National Assembly Celal Adan, Fener Greek Patriarch Bartholomeos and Future Party Chairman Ahmet Davutoğlu also attended the funeral.

The trial of 41 defendants, 5 of whom are detained, including Muhittin Böcek, who was arrested within the scope of the ‘bribery’ and ‘corruption’ investigation in Antalya and suspended from his duty as the Mayor of Antalya Metropolitan Municipality, has started. In the 702-page indictment prepared against 41 defendants, including Muhittin Böcek, his son Mustafa Gökhan Böcek, former Provincial Police Chief İlker Arslan, businessmen Fazlı Ateş and Mehmet Okan Kaya, there were accusations of ‘extortion by force, wrongful acquisition of property, influence trading, laundering of assets resulting from crime, qualified fraud and slander’. In the indictment, cash and deposits amounting to approximately 170 million 83 thousand TL were seized from the suspects, as well as 10 apartments, 5 vehicles, 5 workplaces, 1 luxury brand watch and 1 mobile phone. It was stated that the total value of the movable and immovable assets that were confiscated was 258 million 600 thousand TL. Muhittin Böcek, who was arrested and suspended from office, said in his defense regarding the allegation that approximately 399 million 507 thousand liras of public damage was caused through irregular expenses: “1129 tenders were made in Antalya. We never had a problem with the tenders. I did not come to office to enrich a relative.

I do not accept the accusations. I did not request payment of invoices from Yusuf Yadoğlu, Ali Yılmaz and Sezgin Köysüren, through my son Mustafa Gökhan Böcek and Serkan Temuçin, for the payments made by the company called Anadolu Reklam within the scope of local election propaganda activities. I have no information about the house purchased for 30 million lira for my ex-bride Zeynep Kerimoğlu. A house was bought for my ex-bride Zeynep Kerimoğlu. Yusuf Yadoğlu lent money to Gökhan, I didn’t know. There was a debt and receivable issue between Gökhan and Yusuf. “I do not believe the unfounded allegations regarding this action against me,” he said.

‘I WILL NOT MAKE ANYONE ELSE PAY’

Muhittin Böcek, who defended the purchase of a luxury watch for Melek K. in the indictment, said, “In our customs and traditions, when you buy a gift for your spouse, fiancée or life partner, you do not make someone else pay. Serkan Temuçin, the man from whom we were going to buy a watch for Melek Hanım, said, ‘Let me do some research, maybe I will line up and find one.’ He said, “There was no purchase or sale, either directly or through a person.” Böcek said about the sending of 1 million liras to him from a jewelery company, “It was a real gold exchange transaction.”

Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office completed the IMM corruption investigation on November 11 and prepared a huge 3,806-page indictment against a total of 407 suspects, 107 of whom were detained and 7 of whom were caught. In the indictment, which described 161 billion public losses, bribery and corruption in 143 actions, a prison sentence of 2,352 years was requested for Ekrem İmamoğlu, who was held responsible for 142 actions as the leader of the organization. In the 5th hearing of the case in which Ekrem İmamoğlu was in the defendant’s seat, a new one was added to the lawless attitudes of the CHP wing. CHP deputies, who tried to turn the courtroom into a political arena, this time tried to prevent the administration of justice with the illegal “robe” move. At the hearing held by the Istanbul 40th High Criminal Court on the fifth day of the case, in the hall opposite the Marmara Closed Penal Institution, Ağaç A.Ş. Purchasing Manager Ümit Polat was the last to make his defense. At the hearing, where Ağaç A.Ş employee Fatih Yağcı was expected to make his defense, CHP Istanbul Deputy Turan Taşkın Özer and CHP MP Mahmut Tanal appeared on the stage.

HE VIOLATED THE LAW AND SIT IN THE SEAT

CHP Istanbul Deputy Turan Taşkın Özer, who entered the courtroom wearing a lawyer’s robe, went to the defendant’s lawyers’ section, even though he did not have a power of attorney in the file and, more importantly, he was legally prohibited from practicing law because he was a member of parliament. Özer, who rejected the warning of the gendarmerie teams to “move to the audience section”, clearly displayed disobedience before the court. The President of the Court, who came to the courtroom as the discussions escalated, said, “Some MPs were sitting in the lawyers’ section. Despite the warnings, they did not come out.

Please go to the audience section,” he warned. Instead of respecting the law, Özer did not get up and challenged the court. Due to this provocative attitude, the hearing, which lasted 8 minutes, had to be interrupted. This scandal is not the first procedural violation in the İmamoğlu case. Mahmut Tanal continued the provocation by removing the plastic handcuffs on the barricade between the audience and the press after the hearing was postponed. In the previous hearings, the defendant Ekrem İmamoğlu, who has no place in the Code of Criminal Procedure (CMK). He somehow tried to make an opening speech as if turning the court into a rally area.

FONDAS MADE A ‘HEART’ TO THE MEDIA

Ekrem İmamoğlu tried to give a pirated statement to the CHP-supporting media. Fondas were seen hooliganizing İmamoğlu under the mask of journalism, and it was stated that some people made a “heart” sign towards İmamoğlu. After this situation disrupted the order of the hearing, the court panel asked the press members to change their places. However, CHP supporters did not stand up and resisted the court.

THE KEY NAME OF MONEY TOWERS TURNED IMMUNITY INTO ARMOR

There are very serious accusations against CHP Istanbul Deputy Turan Taşkın Özer, such as “fake receipts”, “managing money traffic” and “obscuring evidence”. Özer, the key figure in the “CHP Money Towers” investigation carried out in Istanbul, is already prohibited from practicing law as he is a member of parliament in accordance with the legislation. Özer’s name is remembered not only with his provocation at the hearing, but also with the shocking confessions included in the prosecutor’s file. Suspect and witness statements say that Özer is not an ordinary deputy, but the custodian of a dirty operation. Although Özer was not included as a suspect in the file due to his parliamentary immunity, he wore his parliamentary status as armor to prevent confessions.

MHP Chairman Devlet Bahçeli said that the horizons of Ankara and Tehran are looking in the same direction. In his statement shared on social media, Bahçeli stated that, on the one hand, we are approaching the end of Ramadan, the sultan of 11 months, and on the other hand, we are experiencing the spiritual beauty, albeit bittersweet, of being honored with the Night of Power, which is heralded in the Holy Quran as being better than a thousand months. “On our Night of Power, it is necessary to question why pain, genocide and wars are nestled in the Islamic geography, under the accompaniment of a sincere and honest conscience, and to activate a moral and consistent self-criticism mechanism,” said Bahçeli, adding:

“It is essential to never forget that as long as we are dispersed internally and as long as the seeds of discord grow among us, all kinds of aggressive interventions will be made from outside. The fact that the war and murder machine of Zionist-imperialist origin constantly sheds Muslim blood, as well as transforming the Islamic geography into an arena of war and conflict, is a brutal vicious circle as well as an example of intolerable one-sided cruelty.

Emphasizing that the horizons of Ankara and Tehran look in the same direction, Bahçeli said, “The fate of Ankara, Baghdad and Damascus, Jerusalem and Gaza are united by the same common denominator. The sadness of Masjid al-Aqsa, our first qibla, which has been closed for 15 days, is the heartache of all of us, of everyone who says they are Muslims. This oppression must definitely end. My wish is that the consciousness of brotherhood will be restored without falling into the dark corridors of zionist-imperialist conspiracies.” It is to compile and regroup with the replenishment of our lives and to disperse the nightmare clouds that block our vision with the dignity and dignity of our faith.”

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan attended the final of the Holy Quran Reading Competition organized by TRT. Giving important messages in his speech, Erdoğan summarized the following:

I convey my strongest messages of solidarity to my brothers and sisters who are trying to spend Ramadan and the Night of Power under difficult conditions, especially the oppressed people in Gaza.

It is forbidden for us to despair. It is forbidden for us to submit to the arrogant and the arrogant and to consent to oppression. We will stand tall. We will shout the truth without fearing anyone or bowing down. We will be the adversary of the oppressor and the friend of the oppressed.

As the Islamic world, we are on a difficult route where we have to climb a very steep hill. We all need to take responsibility to extinguish this fire before it gets any bigger and to prevent more people from losing their lives.

As Muslims, we must prevent competition and differences of opinion from making us lose power. In this critical period when we are going through testing days, we need to put aside the debates that have been going on for centuries in order to reach a solution later. We need to support each other and be a balm for each other’s wounds by holding tightly to the rope of Allah. On the other hand, President Erdoğan congratulated the Night of Power in his post on social media and wished that it would bring peace, tranquility and goodness for the world and humanity.