THE HEARING CONTINUES WITH ŞAHAN’S DEFENSE

Resul Emrah Şahan continues to defend himself in the case that started after a 1-hour break.

EMRAH ŞAHAN DEFENDED

At the hearing, Şişli Mayor Resul Emrah Şahan, who was arrested and released within the scope of the ‘Urban Reconciliation’ investigation and who was suspended from his duty while his detention continued within the scope of the ‘Corruption’ case against the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, made his defense.

In his defense, Resul Emrah Şahan said, “Şişli Municipality and Çağlayan Courthouse are neighbors, the parcel on which the courthouse is located belongs to the municipality. The municipality gave it to me. On March 18, I was talking to the prosecutor’s office about these, if they had called me, I would have gone. I was taken from my home at 05.30 in the morning. On the morning of March 19, the bond of trust between the state and society was undermined. The real story here is the will of Şişli. I am a mayor who received the votes of 7 out of 10 people in Şişli. Today A trustee is sitting in my seat. I am here in my 12 square meter cell with thousands of letters and support. They say, ‘What am I guilty of?’ They say, ‘I don’t know.’ The reason was the Republican People’s Party’s Turkey Alliance policy. As a politician and as a mayor, I want to represent the Kurds in the western provinces in the parliament. savunucusu olduğum için tutuklandım. Batı illerindeki Kürtlerin meclisteki temsiliyeti.Sayın Başkanım, batı illerindeki Kürtler kim. Belki siz, belki heyetteki arkadaşlarımız, salondaki arkadaşlarımız. Komşumuz. Kardeşimiz. Ben bu siyasetin arkasındayım. Türkiye’nin Cumhuriyet tarihinin en kritik eşiklerinden biri olan terörsüz, demokratik Türkiye sürecine ilişkin toplumsal destek varken kent uzlaşısı davasından bir belediye başkanını tutuklamak abesti. O dönem iktidar siyasetçilerinin açıklamalarından bir cümle söyleyeceğim. ‘Uzlaşı, bu topraklarda bir zayıflık değildir. Devlet It is a requirement of the mind and the foresight of the nation. This is what urban reconciliation was about. It was not about conflicting over identities, but about governing the city together. This operation was carried out despite the state’s efforts to cross another threshold for democracy. It was a contradiction to keep a mayor under arrest for city reconciliation, on March 19th. 4 ay sonra, Temmuz’da Prof. Dr. Ahmet Özer kent uzlaşısından tahliye aldı. Tam o dönem, şimdi ‘Kardeşlik zamanı, iç cepheyi güçlendirelim’ açıklamaları geldi. Emrah’ın hücresinin kilidi açılmıştı. Kapının kulpunu indirseniz kapı açılıyordu. Onun için ikinci bir kilit lazımdı o kapıya. Ağustos ayında etkin pişmanlar ifade vermiş Emrah demişler. 12 Eylül’de birden, aniden ifadeye çağrıldım. Sadece tanık ifadeleriydi. Sadece tanık ifadeleriyle “I was arrested. Who are they? The biggest contractors in Türkiye. The people who won the biggest tenders. What happened next? I was released from the city council in 5 minutes.”

‘IT IS NOT POSSIBLE FOR ME TO GIVE AN INSTRUCTION ABOUT THE INSTITUTION’

Şahan continued his defense and said, “First of all, I would like to start with ‘Action 13’. This is the best example of the strangeness regarding the total logic of the indictment. Why. My name is mentioned first in Action 13. The crime of ‘giving personal data to someone else, dissemination and seizure’ is charged. No one took my statement on this matter. I learned this when the ‘surprise’ indictment came. There was no suspect statement, no witness statement, no report, law enforcement report, or even the suspect.” My name is not even on the list. I am expected to prove that this allegation is false. Dear President, it is stated in the accusation that “I was acting as the Chairman of the Istanbul Planning Agency.” “We are being accused based on a panel. It is claimed that I gave instructions as a mayoral candidate who resigned during this period. The baselessness of the allegation begins here; it is practically impossible for me to give an instruction regarding the institution.”

The hearing was adjourned around 16.45.

THEY RECEIVED 8 MILLION DOLLARS FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE HOSPITAL

In the indictment, it was stated that the company, of which the suspects Hüseyin Bozkurt and Mehmet Fatih Bozkurt are responsible, wanted to turn the building they rented in Şişli into a hospital, that they applied to Şişli Municipality to obtain a certificate of conformity in this regard, and that they received the license in return for a donation of $ 4 million and a cash donation of $ 4 million.

SETTLEMENT IN EXCHANGE FOR THE LIGHTING DEBT OF MUNICIPALITIES!

The indictment states that in 2024, Şahan gave a license to a company that requested a housing construction license in Şişli, provided that the municipality’s 2 million dollar lighting debt was paid, that he asked for 4 million dollars from the construction company officials for the settlement permit, and that the company owners gave 4 million dollars to the organization member Süleyman Atik.

LICENSE CONDITIONAL FOR PARK CONSTRUCTION

Şahan asked the company officials to build a park at a point in the district in exchange for the construction license of the project named “Nişantaşı Koru”, and he received the license 10 days after the company signed the preliminary protocol to build the park in February 2025.

UP TO 91 YEARS OF PRISON IS REQUESTED

A total prison sentence of 35 to 91 years is requested for Resul Emrah Şahan for the crimes of “taking bribe” 5 times, “extortion” 2 times, “unlawful recording of personal data”, “illegal giving or obtaining of personal data” and “being a member of an organization established for the purpose of committing a crime”. The indictment includes that Şahan negotiated bribes on behalf of Ekrem İmamoğlu, the organization’s leader, in the Şişli Municipality structuring of the profit-oriented criminal organization and played an active role in procuring it.

RESUL EMRAH ŞAHAN MAKES A DEFENSE

The defense passed to the suspended Mayor of Şişli, Resul Emrah Şahan.

FORMER ŞİŞLİ MAYOR’S BAGS SELLER IS DEFENDING

It was the turn of the defense to the detained defendant Altan Ertürk, advisor to former CHP Şişli Mayor defendant Muammer Keskin. The indictment includes the allegation that the victims, Nezih Barut and Minur Özkök, who built the project called ‘Rotana Residence’ consisting of three blocks in Şişli, were forced to pay 7.5 million dollars in return for the settlement permit, and half of the 3.5 million dollars was received by Altan Ertürk, who advised Keskin.

THE HEARING HAS STARTED

On the 9th day of the corruption case of the century, the hearing started…

IT WILL CONTINUE UNTIL 22.00

The defenses of the defendants will continue to be taken at the hearing, which will be held by the Istanbul 40th High Criminal Court in the building of the Marmara Open Prison Campus in Silivri. On the other hand, the President of the Court stated that the hearings could continue until 22:00.

IT’S İŞLİ MUNICIPALITY’S TURN TO DEFEND

Şişli Mayor Resul Emrah Şahan, who was suspended from duty today, is expected to make his defense in the case where the detained defendants made their defense.

THE NINTH DAY OF THE CASE HAS STARTED

Before the hearing, which will be held by the Istanbul 40th High Criminal Court in the hall opposite the Marmara Closed Penal Institution, gendarmerie teams are carrying out security checks in and around the hall.

WEEK 3 OF THE HEARINGS

THIRD WEEK OF HEARINGS

The first hearing was held on Monday, March 9. In previous hearings, detained defendants Aykut Erdoğdu, Sırrı Küçük, Ümit Polat, Bulut Aydöner made their defense. While there was no hearing on Friday, the third week of hearings continued 4 days a week and started on Monday, March 23.

VICTIM AND CUSTOMERS

The Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Turkey, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Turkey, the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources of the Republic of Turkey, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of the Republic of Turkey, the Provincial Directorate of Environment and Urbanization of Istanbul, the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality and the Municipality of Şişli were listed as those damaged by the crime. While Adem Kameroğlu, Mustafa Keleş, Muzaffer Beyaz, Seyfi Beyaz and Mehmet Torun are included in the indictment as both complainants and suspects, the 16 complainants are Alaattin Kameroğlu, Avni Çelik, Fatih Erdoğan, Kaan Yücel, Murat Özyeğin, Sedat Kapıdağ, Abdulkerim Fırat, İlker Keleş, Münir Özkök, Nezih Barut, Salahattin Özgül, Ziya Yılmaz, Çetin Gül, Mehmet İlhan, Bahattin Uçar, Serbülend Danış took part.

MANAGERS AND MEMBERS

Fatih Keleş, Murat Ongun, Ertan Yıldız, Murat Gülibrahimoğlu, Adem Soytekin and Hüseyin Gün were the managers of the organization. Suspects who are members of the organization include Yakup Öner, Emrah Bağdatlı, Resul Emrah Şahan, Necati Özkan, Tuncay Yılmaz, Mustafa Akın, Mehmet Pehlivan, Seza Büyükçulha, Hüseyin Köksal, Ali Nuhoğlu, Ali Sukas, İbrahim Bülbüllü and Melih Geçek.

EKREM İMAMOĞLU ‘CRIMINAL ORGANIZATION LEADER’

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. Bribery and corruption in 143 actions were described as causing a public loss of 161 billion.

In the indictment, Ekrem İmamoğlu, who was held responsible for 142 actions as the leader of the organization, was accused of “establishing an organization for the purpose of committing a crime”, “recording personal data”, “seizing and disseminating personal data”, “concealing criminal evidence”, “obstructing communication”, “damaging public property”, “bribery”, “publicly disseminating misleading information”, “extortion”, “fraud to the detriment of public institutions and organizations”, “devaluation of assets resulting from crime”. Up to 2,352 years of imprisonment was requested for the crimes of “laundering”, “tender rigging”, “deliberate pollution of the environment”, and violation of the Tax Procedure Law, Forest Law and Mining Law.