Procedures for 54 suspects detained within the scope of the bribery and corruption investigation carried out in Izmir continue. During the operation in which Buca Mayor Görkem Duman, former Buca Mayor Erhan Kılıç, deputy mayors and former CHP District Chairman Çağdaş Kaya were also detained, it was revealed that one of the suspects, Bahadır Yılmaz, owned 13 race horses. It was also determined that the suspect, who was found to be working as a civil servant in the progress payment unit of Buca Municipality, received bribes for two separate constructions in Buca.

It was learned that the 13 horses consisted of English and Arabian horses, and their prices varied between 100 thousand TL and 1 million TL. In the digital material review made about Buca Mayor Görkem Duman, it was determined that he received instructions from Buca CHP District Mayor Çağdaş Kaya regarding many issues with the municipality staff, received information from the personnel in the relevant department about the constructions of the suspect Sarıkaya Construction owner Doğan Sarıkaya, and received a receipt stating that he received 400 thousand TL in his meeting with the suspect İzmir Metropolitan Municipality and Buca Municipality Council Member Mustafa Genç.

Former Antalya Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Muhittin Böcek, who is under arrest, gave additional testimony at the Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office in Antalya. Stating that he attended a meeting chaired by CHP’s former Chairman Özgür Özel before his candidacy was finalized, Böcek said, “Chairman Özgür Özel said to all the presidential candidates, including me, ‘The headquarters may have material and moral demands from you for the election period, please help in these matters.'” Thereupon, he stated that he directed his son Mustafa Gökhan Böcek to be prepared, saying that there may be requests from the headquarters.

Böcek said that his visit to Manisa on January 15, 2024, was aimed at providing “financial and project support” to Manisa candidate Ferdi Zeyrek, upon the instructions of Özgür Özel.

I GAVE IT TO ZEYREK

He stated that he delivered the bag containing approximately 950 thousand euros to former Manisa Mayor Ferdi Zeyrek. Böcek said, “…I was alone with Ferdi Zeyrek for a short time. During this time, I put the bag containing approximately 950 thousand euros of money next to his desk. I said to him, ‘I brought the bag to you, so that we can contribute to the election process.’ As I mentioned above, I did this based on the instruction of Özgür Özel in Ankara to support Ferdi Zeyrek. I do not know how Ferdi Bey used this money. I am Özgür. “I did this because I thought this might contribute to my candidacy because he was from Manisa and his close ties with the late Ferdi Bey,” he said.

I PAID 1 MILLION EURO IN ANKARA AND 200 THOUSAND DOLLARS IN ANTALYA
In his previous statements, Muhittin Böcek came to the fore with the money handed over by his son Gökhan Böcek. In his new statement, Böcek emphasized that in January 2024, while he was in Ankara during the most critical days of the candidacy process, his son went to the Headquarters building and delivered 1 million euros as a result of Özgür Özel’s instructions and Veli Ağbaba’s call. It was stated that 200 thousand dollars was given to Özel in Antalya on February 24, 2024.

HTS AND PTS VERIFIED RECORDS
The Manisa visit and office appointment mentioned in Muhittin Böcek’s statement coincided with the technical data entered in the file. According to the report prepared by BBDK: Böcek’s vehicles left Antalya at 08.15 on the morning of January 15 and entered Manisa via Korkuteli and Denizli. After reaching Manisa, Böcek made three phone calls to a line belonging to FZ Yapı, owned by Ferdi Zeyrek, at 10.36 and 11.52. Böcek’s phone was connected to the “MANORGANIZESAN” base area, which coincides with FZ Yapı’s address in Yunusemre, at 12:06:30. It was determined that Böcek stayed at this address for 2 hours and 29 minutes, and 120 records were taken from his device during this time.

MHP Chairman Devlet Bahçeli made striking statements regarding the agenda in his interview with Türkgün newspaper. Evaluating the deepening crisis after the ‘absolute nullity’ decision in CHP, Bahçeli said, “Özgür Özel established a ‘parallel center’ in the party.” Bahçeli briefly said:
HE DEEPENS THE CRISIS: Özgür Özel is making moves that will deepen the crisis that CHP is in, without waiting for the final decision of the Supreme Court. With a special, de facto intervention, he became the group chairman of the Turkish Grand National Assembly, establishing a new and parallel center in the party, and received the title of de facto leader of the CHP, as opposed to the Chairmanship status defined in the law. Özgür Özel, with his discriminatory language and style, his actions against Türkiye’s environment of stability and trust, and his will to unquestioningly implement the demands of the focuses he receives for hours, has the potential to be neither the guard of Anıtkabir, nor the heir of Atatürk, nor the leader of the Turkish youth. Özel’s “adolescent revolutionism” does not embody a responsible understanding of politics for either the CHP or Türkiye.
ARTIFICIAL AGENDA: Under the parallel leadership of Özel, it is aimed to put pressure on Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu and to prevent the positive response of Kılıçdaroğlu’s purification policy in the organizations and society. The chairman of CHP is Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu. He wants to strengthen his position within the party by turning the private internal problem into social opposition based on opposition to the government. He is trying to mobilize party organizations in his favor and align other opposition parties with him. CHP’s internal issue has consciously and organizedly created the artificial agenda of “power and authoritarianism” in Türkiye.
UNACCEPTABLE: (The images in Anıtkabir) The image experienced in the presence of Gazi was not pleasant, it did not suit the love of Anıtkabir. It is an unacceptable attitude to try to instrumentalize Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of our Republic, for an internal party issue.

THEY SHOULD NOT CONFUSE Türkiye
CHP members must strictly stay away from FETO remnants and an approach that seeks help from the streets. The issue should not move away from the basis of law, the platform of democracy, political competition and decency. No one should dare to stir up Türkiye. The events should not take to the streets and lead to an action with calls for physical struggle, attacks on security forces, or disruption of public order. What does “physical struggle”, which is presented for the first time and with remarkable emphasis, mean? Provoking party members by creating a perception in society that legitimate legal remedies cannot yield results may create a situation that threatens public security. While physical struggle evokes dangers such as taking people to the streets, creating conflict dynamics, threatening public security and public order, it has the potential to cause irreparable fractures within the CHP.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan held a joint press conference with Niger President Abdurrahman Tchiani at the Presidential Complex. Erdogan said:

HISTORICAL RELATIONS: Niger is one of the friendly and brotherly countries with which Türkiye has deep historical relations. Our relations with this strategically important geography, dating back to the 1400s, are improving day by day with the contributions of President Tchiani. We see that under Tchiani’s leadership, Niger is making a different breakthrough despite all the difficulties it faces. As the dark-day friend of the African people, we support Niger’s development struggle with all the means we have. We confirmed that we have the will to advance our relations in every field.

JOINT COMMITTEE: We thoroughly evaluated our relations with Niger President Tchiani and his delegation, especially in the defense industry, security, energy, mining, education, health and agriculture. We discussed investment opportunities in Niger. We agreed on the establishment of the economic and trade joint committee. We further strengthened the contractual basis of our relations by signing agreements in various fields.

FRIENDSHIP HOSPITAL: Turkey-Niger Friendship Hospital, whose operating protocol we have renewed, makes very valuable contributions to the humanitarian dimension of our relations with Niger. TIKA, which carried out the Dostluk Hospital and friendship school projects, continues its contributions to strengthening Niger’s administrative and civil infrastructure, especially irrigation, agriculture and animal husbandry. We are pleased with the course of our cooperation in the field of education, which we attach great importance to.

1700 STUDENTS IN 12 SCHOOLS: Our Turkish Maarif Foundation provides education to more than 1700 students in total in 12 schools in the capital Niamey. Nearly 500 Niger students, 300 of whom receive Turkish Scholarships, are receiving higher education in our country. Türkiye graduates, as our ambassadors, help strengthen the conversation between us. A memorandum of understanding for cooperation was signed between our Higher Education Institution and the equivalent Nigerian institution. We will continue our cooperation with Niger in all these areas.

WIN-WIN PRINCIPLE: We continue to develop relations with African countries on the basis of equal partnership, mutual respect and win-win principles. These relations are not only in commercial and economic fields; We see it as long-term collaborations in a wide range of areas such as security, education, culture and transportation. We stand by our friendly and brother countries in the fight against terrorist organizations that create instability in the continent, especially in the Sahel region. We also follow with appreciation the fight against terrorism of the Niger security forces under the leadership of Mr. Tchiani. In this context, we also evaluated the possibilities of closer cooperation with them in the fields of military training and intelligence. We stated that we are ready to share our country’s experience in this field. I believe that we will soon receive positive results from the meetings that the guest delegation will hold with our leading defense industry companies.

ERDOĞAN WELCOME TCHİANI WITH AN OFFICIAL CEREMONY
President Erdoğan welcomed Niger President Abdurrahman Tchiani, who visited Türkiye, with an official ceremony. After Erdoğan and Tchiani took their places in the ceremony area, the band played the national anthems of the two countries. At the ceremony, flags and soldiers representing 16 Turkish states in history were also featured, and 21 artillery pieces were fired. Tchiani greeted the Guard Regiment’s Ceremonial Guard by saying “Hello, soldier.” The two leaders presented their delegations to each other.

PRESIDENT OF NIGER TCHIANI:
‘Türkiye SUPPORTED US IN OUR FIGHT AGAINST TERROR’
Niger President Abdourahamane Tchiani said, “In 2013, Mr. President paid an important official delegation visit to Niger. Since then, we have always felt the support of the Republic of Turkey. His Excellency always followed the course of our relations closely during his term of office and supported us to successfully combat the terrorist threat. Thanks to the support you provided, both our air defense systems and other military vehicles and devices, together with the Turkish defense industry products, we are a little more in this terrorist environment.” “You helped us achieve peace and stability. Mr. President, I thank you very much for the support you have given us in this field,” he said.

4 AGREEMENTS WERE SIGNED
Four agreements were signed between Türkiye and Niger in the presence of Erdoğan and Tchiani. The agreements are as follows: “Implementation Protocol for the Years 2026-2030 of the Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in the Field of Higher Education between the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation”, “Joint Declaration on the Establishment of the Economic and Trade Partnership Commission (JETCO)”, “Protocol on the Joint Operation and Transfer of the Niger-Turkey Friendship Hospital”, “The Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey and the National Diplomatic and “Memorandum of Understanding between the Strategic Research Institution”.

The capital city of CHP’s Ankara Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Mansur Yavaş, who made ambitious promises by saying “One of my priorities is tourism” before taking office, turned into a complete disappointment for foreign tourists. The world-famous YouTuber couple named “Fi and Nick”, who visited Ankara, clearly revealed the negligence and lack of management they encountered in the city.

Ankara, under the administration of Mansur Yavaş, who promises to revitalize cultural tourism and revive regions such as Haymana, Gordion and Çubuk, looks like it is incapable of hosting even the tourists in the center. The foreign couple who went to tour the city was faced with a complete municipality fiasco, from non-functioning escalators to neglected parks, from the collapsed transportation system to toll booths that could not be contacted.

THERE ARE NO CARDS IN THE METRO, TOll BOXES ARE EMPTY

The inadequacies in Ankara’s transportation infrastructure have become a nightmare for tourists. The couple, who wanted to take the subway but could find neither an interlocutor nor a vending machine, expressed their surprise with the following words:

“We have a small problem; we cannot find a place where we can buy an Ankara metro card. The ticket office is completely empty and there is no machine where you can buy a card in this area.”

Tourists complained about the disconnection of the transportation system and the endless walking distances between stations, and harshly criticized the inadequacy of the metro network and the lack of coordination in transportation.

“A SWEATY CHAOS!”: HEATING BUS DISGRACE AT 23 DEGREES

The lack of maintenance and control of public transportation in the capital also caused difficult times for foreign guests. Although the weather was hot, the air conditioners were not turned on on the bus, which shocked the tourists. Describing the bus journey as “complete chaos”, the couple could not hide their reactions:

“The bus was so hot, it was like they turned on the heater! It’s 23 degrees today… The bus is complete chaos. Sweaty, sweaty, sweaty chaos. Oh my God!”

DROUGHT AND NEGLIGENCE IN GENÇLİK PARK: “THIS IS SHAMEFUL”
After visiting Anıtkabir, the couple went to Genclik Park, one of Ankara’s symbolic places, and were shocked by the lack of maintenance they encountered. The couple, who described the dried and empty appearance of the artificial ponds in the park as “embarrassing” and “sad”, expressed their disappointment with the following words:

“After the longest walk of my life from the Anitkabir area to Genclik Park, we are finally here. But this place is very different from what I imagined. The artificial pond is very dry. To be honest, I was expecting more from a water feature. It looks very empty and sad right now. If it were filled with water, it would be absolutely stunning with the lights reflecting off the castle and the mosque.”

LOTS OF PROMISES, NO EXECUTION

The “vision of Ankara in tourism”, which Mansur Yavaş expressed at every opportunity, was once again failed by these painful facts reflected on the cameras of foreign travelers. Unmaintained parks, escalators that do not work, a subway system where cards cannot even be sold at the toll booths, and buses that run on central heating in hot weather…

Far from welcoming tourists under Yavaş’s administration, Ankara virtually drives them out of the city with its existing infrastructure. These images, which foreign YouTubers showed to the whole world, were recorded as one of the biggest blows to the capital’s tourism potential.

BREAKING NEWS… Minister of Justice Akın Gürlek announced that simultaneous operations were carried out in 27 provinces in the investigation carried out by the Investigation Bureau for the Prevention of Financing of Terrorism and Laundering Crime. He emphasized that while detention orders were issued for 104 suspects during the operation, a transaction volume of approximately 193 billion 367 million TL used in illegal betting activities was detected.

Minister Gürlek used the following statements in his statement:

In line with the instructions of our President, Mr. Erdoğan; We continue our fight against illegal betting, virtual gambling and laundering of assets resulting from crime, in coordination with all relevant institutions and organizations, especially our Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Within the scope of two separate investigations carried out with the Istanbul Provincial Police Department under the coordination of our Istanbul Anatolian Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office; Simultaneous operations were carried out this morning against illegal betting organizations and the laundering of criminal proceeds obtained from these activities.

In the investigation carried out by the Prevention of Terrorism Financing and Laundering Crime Investigation Bureau; A transaction volume of approximately 193 billion 367 million TL used in illegal betting activities was determined, and judicial proceedings were initiated against 104 suspects with the operation carried out in 27 provinces.

In another investigation carried out by the Cyber ​​Crimes Investigation Bureau, it was determined that an electronic money and payment institution, which was considered to be used in illegal betting and money laundering activities, reached a transaction volume of 2.1 billion TL in 2024 alone; Within the scope of the operation carried out in Istanbul, Kocaeli and Yalova, judicial proceedings were carried out against 26 suspects.

I would like to thank our Istanbul Anatolian Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, Istanbul Provincial Police Department, MASAK, the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey, and all our institutions and staff who contributed to the investigation process, who carried out these investigations meticulously.

We will never compromise our fight against illegal betting and virtual gambling structures, criminal organizations and money laundering that target our society, our families and especially our youth; We will continue our fight against crime and criminals with determination.