“Van Lake Basin Common Mind Platform for the Future / Van Lake Basin Sustainable Future Workshop”, organized in cooperation with Zero Waste Foundation, Van Governorship, Bitlis Governorship, Van Yüzüncü Yıl University, Bitlis Eren University and Van and Bitlis Provincial Directorates of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change, has been completed. The final declaration prepared after two days of thematic table studies and evaluation sessions was shared with the public.

The workshop was held under the auspices and vision of Emine Erdoğan, Founder of the Zero Waste Movement and Chairperson of the UN Zero Waste High-Level Personalities Advisory Board; It brought together a total of 325 participants from 2 cities, 14 ministries, 40 general directorates, academics, non-governmental organizations and the private sector in 1 basin.

The workshop final declaration included the establishment of the basin management model. It was recommended that the “Van Lake Basin Digital Management Center Supreme Council” with an independent budget be activated and a 1/25,000 scale master zoning plan be prepared.

EKOZEKA SYSTEM WILL BE ESTABLISHED

Within the scope of digital transformation, it was recommended to establish the “EKOZEKA VAN” system for data-oriented monitoring and to monitor the basin in an integrated manner with digital twin technologies.

While Minister of Agriculture and Forestry İbrahim Yumaklı said, “Van Closed Basin Master Plan will form the road map for the coming years,” Zero Waste Foundation President Samed Ağırbaş stated that they will present their will to the world as a “good practice example” at the UN COP31 Summit.

There was a hot development in the Dude investigation carried out by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office. 9 suspects, including Babala TV owner Oğuzhan Uğur and former TÜRMOB President CHP member Emre Kartaloğlu, were arrested by the Istanbul 3rd Criminal Judgeship of Peace on charges of “abuse of trust due to service” and “laundering of assets resulting from crime”. Babala TV owner Oğuzhan Uğur, who carried out joint work with the Ahbap Association during the earthquake period and was one of the pioneers of perception operations against public institutions, attracted attention with his attitude during the interrogation. Allegations regarding the 6.5 million lira deposited in cash into Uğur’s company account on November 1, 2024 became the focus of the investigation. Uğur claimed that he received the money in question from a “family friend” to pay his mortgage, renovations, employee salaries and tax debts. However, he refrained from revealing the identity of the person who transferred the money. The prosecutor’s office launched a large-scale investigation to identify this mysterious name and its source.

ESCAPE SUSPICION AND STRONG EVIDENCE: Court; Taking into account the suspect’s statements, bank account movements, TÜRMOB reports and law enforcement documents, he ruled that there was a strong suspicion of crime. Considering the fact that the evidence had not yet been fully collected and the upper limits of punishment, an arrest warrant was issued for Uğur and 8 other suspects on suspicion of escape.

HEAVY ALLEGATIONS: “BETTING AND BAD HABITS”: The investigation file also included striking allegations about the use of the association’s resources: Suspect Muharrem Karataş’s lawyer Önder İbrahim Yıldırım said that some of the collected aid was used in betting games through Ahbap employees, and pointed out that the main perpetrator was Haluk Levent, and said, “Here, Haluk Levent is the perpetrator, and the helpers are Ahbap employees. For example, Alper Çelik.”

EMRE KARTALOĞLU

AUDIT REPORT WAS SUPERFICIAL
In their defense, the financial advisors in the audit team, former TÜRMOB president Emre Kartaloğlu and TÜRMOB members stated that the reports prepared were superficial and did not qualify as “laundering” and claimed that the Buddy management used these limited reports to mislead the public. While the prison process for the key figure in the file, Oğuzhan Uğur, and other suspects begins, the prosecutor’s office’s detailed investigation into the financial traffic continues.

FATİH EKE

SCHOOL LIE AGAINST DAMAGES
Arrested businessman Fatih Eke stated that he was owed 1.5 million dollars from Haluk Levent, and in return he was offered to build a school in Samandağ, but the promises were not kept. Accounting employee Suzan Duskuner Mintas said that she did not have signing authority and that she only followed the instructions from Haluk Levent. Former treasurer Hüseyin Küçük’s lawyer claimed that Levent touched the association’s money and went into debt due to his bad habits.

Artist Haluk Levent, who discredited public institutions in the disaster of the century and made a billion-dollar profit by gambling and betting with the aid collected from the AHBAP Association, confessed his gambling addiction and the profiteering he made from the AHBAP Association, which he founded, on his social media account. Stating that he received 50 million worth of gold and land guarantee from the association, Levent disguised it as an illegal transaction and disguised his attempt to escape abroad and turning off his mobile phones, claiming “I was going to pay 140 million to the association, but I was caught before I could pay.” Haluk Levent, the President of the Friends Association, who exploited the most sensitive feelings of the nation in the disaster of the century and established a huge corruption and fraud network worth billions of liras under the mask of “Türkiye’s most reliable name”, explained his heist in the letter he sent from the prison where he was detained.

Emphasizing that his passion for gambling put him in a vicious circle, Levent stated that he borrowed money from people with high interest rates and promises in order to pay off his debts. Levent said, “Gambling is a very bad disease. I succumbed to my reputation, ambition and weaknesses. Can a debt of 35 million lira turn into 250 million in 6 months? It is possible… I am someone who offers 2-3 times as much to borrow money from people.” Responding to the allegations that he embezzled the money of the Dude Association, Levent confirmed that he made irregular transactions within the association, but he disguised this as illegal borrowing, not theft. Claiming that he planned to close the gap that occurred before the ministry’s inspection, Levent explained that he acted with the logic of “take from there and give here” and explained the millions he received from the association. Levent, who admitted that the association had purchased gold for 50 million liras and a land guarantee, claimed that he aimed to replace these before the inspection came.

HE HANGED UP THE PHONE, TRIED TO ESCAPE AND SAID ‘I DID NOT KNOW’
Levent, who learned that there was a travel ban against him at the airport where he went to go abroad and was later caught in Bursa while turning off his 4 mobile phones and escaping, did not mention these at all in the letter he wrote from prison. Levent only reacted to the timing of the operation, claiming that he took action on Friday, July 10, to pay his debts to the association, and that he would cover the entire deficiency with the transfer of 20 houses worth 150 million lira in Çerkezköy and 140 million TL transferred to his bank account.

SUSPICION OF MONEY LAUNDERING THROUGH REAL ESTATE PURCHASE
Haluk Levent ignored the AHBAP profiteering and claimed that he was arrested for fraud over the so-called real estate sale. Levent, who admitted that he bought the real estate with a value of 22 million dollars from Hüseyin Başaran for 60 million dollars, did not explain why he bought the real estate at 3 times the price.

MILLION PROFIT USED BY FAMOUS SCAMMER RAKİ
In Fatih, Istanbul, Armenian citizen Tigran P. disguised himself with a wig, glasses, a full beard and dyed eyebrows and opened a bag store in a passage. Tigran P., who started shopping for gold thanks to the trust he established with the surrounding tradesmen, after a while made a profit in the market with the “Kunduzi” method of Güney Zobu, nicknamed “Raki”, the famous fraudster of the 1980s.

Tigran P. put the gold brought by the couriers into his safe. After telling the couriers, “You sit down and I’ll come with the money,” he disappeared with his accomplice Henrik S. (36). Suspicious when Tigran did not arrive, the couriers saw that the back of the safe had a hole and that the hole opened into the corridor behind the shop.

Two suspects who stole 4 kilos of 14 carat gold worth 300 thousand dollars were caught while having a picnic on the seashore. Tigran P., who got rid of his fake disguise after the escape, looked different when he was caught, but he was caught by the shirt he wore during the incident and the scar on his forehead. YunusEmre KAVAK/ SABAH

The echoes of the visit of the Cambridge Central Mosque, built with the support of Türkiye in Cambridge, England, by the King of England Charles III the other day, continue. During his visit to the Cambridge Central Mosque, described as “Europe’s first environmentally friendly mosque”, Charles III met with the mosque’s imams, trustees and members of the Muslim community in Cambridge. During the visit, Türkiye’s Ambassador to London Osman Koray Ertaş, Cambridge Mosque Foundation Board of Trustees members Zeynep Coşkun Koç and Prof. Dr. Many guests attended, as well as Selim Argun and Abdülhakim Murad, a British researcher and writer who converted to Islam at the age of 19.

Cambridge Mosque Foundation Board of Trustees Member Zeynep Coşkun Koç stated that the letter written by President Erdoğan to King Charles was also presented during the visit, and noted that Erdoğan stated in the letter that he found the King’s visit to the mosque valuable at a time when Islamophobia and racism were increasing. Koç said, “The King was also very pleased to receive such a letter from the President. Our President had an invitation to him. We conveyed this. He was also very happy and said, ‘I really want to go to Türkiye anyway.'” he said. Stating that King Charles said that he was very impressed by the architecture and environmentally friendly features of the mosque while leaving the visit, Koç stated that the King himself drew attention to the importance of worshiping in this structure, which was built as a mosque. Koç said, “Everyone is very aware that this mosque could not have been built without Türkiye’s support. It is very good to hear this. This shows the vision led by our President Erdoğan.” he said.

The General Directorate of Foundations is sending 30 thousand food parcels with 30 trucks to be delivered to families living in dispersed and regular camps in the Euphrates Shield Operation Zone in Syria. Within the scope of the shipment program carried out in cooperation with AFAD, 2 thousand food parcels set out to be delivered to the warehouses of Hatay Provincial Disaster and Emergency Directorate. It is planned to deliver 10 thousand food parcels to Kilis Çobanbey AFAD warehouses and 18 thousand parcels to Hatay Provincial Disaster and Emergency Directorate warehouses by the end of July. It is anticipated that food parcel shipments consisting of basic food products with long-term durability such as flour, tomato paste, sunflower oil, dry beans, pasta, red lentils, noodles, rice, tahini halva and raisins will be completed by the end of the month. The food parcels also include an Arabic letter written by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, containing messages of solidarity and support. Here are excerpts from that letter:

My dear Syrian brothers, Türkiye and the Turkish Nation are with you today, as they were yesterday, and tomorrow.

You made a new start in Syria by fighting with your blood, your life, your tooth and nail, despite all the impossible odds. You have made significant progress in a short time towards the recovery of your country after the revolution, its recovery in unity and solidarity, and its integration with the world.

As Türkiye, we have always supported this good progress. As we always say, we have been here for a thousand years, we are together, we are neighbors. Hopefully, we will be here and live together until the end of time.

It is only possible for all segments of Syria to look to their future with confidence through a common history and a common future vision.

As your neighbor and brother, we will support you with all our means in your struggle for development, just as we did not leave you alone in your struggle for freedom and justice.

We will put our hearts into it and overcome difficulties, troubles and obstacles together with the help of God. We will build the happy, prosperous and peaceful Syria of the future together again.

THE JOY OF THE PEOPLE OF GAZA IS VERY PRECIOUS
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had a telephone conversation with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez. According to the statement of the Directorate of Communications, Erdoğan congratulated Sanchez for the victory of the Spanish National Team in the World Cup. Stating that he found the joy of the people of Gaza, who watched the match among the ruins in Gaza, after Spain’s championship very valuable, Erdoğan stated that Spain’s conscientious and moral stance on the issue of Palestine found a response in the hearts of football fans around the world. Erdoğan stated that he was happy to host Sanchez on the occasion of the NATO Ankara Summit. He also stated that he would be pleased to host Sanchez again in Türkiye at the beginning of 2027 for the Türkiye-Spain Intergovernmental Summit. Meanwhile, Erdoğan spoke on the phone with Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics yesterday. Muhammed UZUN/SABA

Gürsel Tekin announced that 7 district presidents and administrators in Istanbul, who were part of activities that were incompatible with the location and party identity within the preparations for another political formation, were dismissed. Tekin stated that the district heads were cautiously referred to the disciplinary process.

Breaking news: Gürsel Tekin, in his statement on his social media account, stated that the management of 7 district heads in Istanbul were dismissed. Stating that the disciplinary process has been initiated against the district presidents cautiously, Tekin said, “Our party’s corporate identity, discipline and traditions are above any personal discretion.” he said.

Tekin’s post is as follows:

“DISCIPLINARY PROCESS HAS BEEN STARTED”

“The Republican People’s Party is a deep-rooted Republican institution built on its charter, program, organizational discipline and political morality. No duty and no position is above these rules.

Especially in our Istanbul organization, it is never acceptable for people who hold the title of district president to take part in the preparations of another political formation, to mediate it, or to be part of activities that are incompatible with the party identity, while continuing their duties.

Everyone who represents the Republican People’s Party must primarily adhere to the statute, organizational discipline and political morality of this party. It is unthinkable for those who act contrary to these principles to continue their duties.

For this reason, the district presidents and administrations whose names are mentioned below have been dismissed from their duties; District heads were also cautiously referred to the disciplinary process.

HERE ARE THE DISCHARGED DISTRICT HEADS AND MANAGEMENTS

The Republican People’s Party is not a tool for anyone’s personal political calculations. Our party’s corporate identity, discipline and traditions are above all personal preferences. There is no room for even the slightest compromise on this issue.

-CHP Başakşehir District Chairman and his management

-CHP Büyükçekmece District Chairman and management

-CHP Beylikdüzü District Chairman and management

-CHP Kadıköy District Chairman and management