There were new arrests in the ATM girlfriend lover scandal that emerged in CHP municipalities. Izmir Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office launched an investigation when it was revealed that Aslıhan Aksoy, the girlfriend of CHP’s Uşak Mayor Özkan Yalım, who was raided at the hotel with her lover and arrested for bribery and corruption, was working as an ATM clerk in Bornova Municipality and receiving money without going to work. In the report prepared as a result of the investigation by SSI inspectors, it was determined that Aslıhan Aksoy did not actually work.

According to the report, Bornova Mayor Ömer Eşki, Aslıhan Aksoy, PK and V.İ.A. were determined to be responsible for this incident. He was detained for the crimes of ‘Qualified Fraud’ and ‘Forgery of Official Documents’. The suspects, who were referred to the courthouse after their procedures at the police station, were brought to court with a request for arrest. While the court released PK and V.İ.A. along with Eşki, it also decided to release Aslıhan Aksoy with a judicial control order. Meanwhile, during the examination of SGK inspectors, Sezen Yılmaz, wife of CHP Kemalpaşa District Chairman Ahmet Yılmaz, was arrested. It was determined that he worked as an ATM clerk in Bornova Municipality for 4 months and was summarily dismissed on March 21 when the Uşak scandal broke out.

SPREAD TO BUCA
On the other hand, the ATM lover scandal in CHP municipalities also spread to Buca Municipality. Acting upon a tip-off, SGK Inspectors examined 30 people who were notified of insurance by Buca Municipality but claimed to have received a salary before coming to work.

Within the scope of the Izmir-based corruption investigation, a detention order was issued for 10 suspects, including cooperative and İZBETON officials and audit board members, in the investigation initiated on allegations related to the SS Business People Gaziemir Housing Building Cooperative, which was established through the Gaziemir district Urban Transformation and Development Area projects. Taking action in line with the instructions of the prosecutor’s office, Izmir Financial Branch Teams detained 9 suspects, including CHP Ankara Provincial Chairman Ümit Erkol. Erkol, who was detained in Ankara, was taken to Izmir. It was learned that one suspect was abroad. Ümit Erkol is accused of causing damage to the cooperative in which he served as a board member between January 16, 2022 and June 28, 2024. Within the scope of the investigation, it was determined that one of the so-called tender offers was received from the ARES company owned by Ümit Erkol’s son, Fırat Erkol, and that the process was carried out through affiliated companies instead of free competition. It was emphasized that unexplained differences in financial records occurred during the period when Erkol was a member of the board of directors. According to the expert report, there was a difference of 178 thousand 535 TL in 2022, 14 million 128 thousand 424 TL in 2023, and 14 million 178 thousand 459 TL in 2024.

CASH OUTPUT WITHOUT DOCUMENTS
In the expert report, it was determined that there was an undocumented cash outflow from the cash account on December 31, 2023. It was stated that Ümit Erkol took an active role in the management of the cooperative and had management responsibility for almost all of the tender, bid and financial irregularity periods. In the content of the complaint; It was claimed that cooperative members were instilled with confidence by promising cheap and solid housing, a perception of municipality assurance was created, but violations of the legislation were hidden.

According to information obtained from the sources of the Ministry of National Defense, Exercise Blue Homeland-2026, directed and managed by the Turkish Naval Forces Command, was successfully carried out in the Black Sea, Aegean Sea and Eastern Mediterranean between 3-9 April. In addition to the Naval Forces Command elements, Land and Air Forces and Coast Guard Command units participated in the exercise. 122 ships, 41 aircraft, 12 unmanned marine vehicles and more than 10 thousand personnel took part in the giant exercise. As part of the distinguished observer day activities held on the last day of the exercise, shooting tests of weapon systems developed with domestic and national resources were carried out.

Yesterday, Chief of General Staff General Selçuk Bayraktaroğlu also followed the ongoing exercise off the Mediterranean coast. While Blue Homeland-2026 simultaneously tested the high level of readiness in three seas, the main focus of the exercise was the protection of rights and interests in the “Blue Homeland” and increasing the interoperability capability between forces. During the exercise, advanced operational scenarios for the integration of unmanned surface vehicles and unmanned aerial vehicles were implemented. After the targets were hit with full accuracy as of April 9, the actual phase of the exercise was completed and the process of returning the units to their home bases began.

NEW WEAPONS IN INVENTORY
Ministry of Defense Spokesperson Zeki Aktürk gave information about the new weapons included in the Turkish Armed Forces inventory in his weekly briefing. For the first time, the TB 3 UAV, the system for detecting and neutralizing improvised explosive devices with electronic circuits, AKSUNGUR and AKINCI UAVs and the CATS Electrooptic Infrared Camera System inspection and acceptance activities were completed and included in the inventory.

Within the scope of the investigation carried out under the coordination of the Special Investigation Bureau of the Istanbul Anatolian Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, an investigation was launched in Üsküdar Municipality on the grounds that “there were irregularities in the building and settlement license procedures”. Kent Inc. General Manager Nazım Akkoyunlu was informed that he used the title of “vice president” in the room allocated to him between the Zoning and Urbanization Directorate and the Building Control Directorate, which are the units where building permits and settlement licenses are issued, and that he was introduced as such in official programs. Kent A.Ş. was used as a front during the building permit process, and unfair profits were obtained from contractors in return for services that were not actually provided. It was learned that Burçin Çevik, who works at the Istanbul Planning Agency (İPA), was one of the people who gave guidance within the scope of the investigation, although he did not work at Üsküdar Municipality.

COLOR CODED LICENSE SYSTEM

Kent A.Ş. to learn the instructions regarding which applications will be suspended during the building permit process. An encrypted and closed-circuit communication network was established between the Department of Planning and Urbanization. An island-parcel based coloring system was created via Excel tables. In this system; “Blue” means that an agreement has been reached, “Red” means that an agreement has not been reached, “Green” means that no negotiations have been held yet, and “Orange” means that there has been a meeting but the process has not been made official. It was claimed that the license procedures were carried out not according to the architectural project, but according to whether the requested money was paid or not.

SEPARATE MEETINGS FOR SETTLEMENT

A similar system was used in the settlement license process. In the process that is under the responsibility of the Building Control Directorate, the benefits to be requested from the contractors are determined by Kent A.Ş. It was claimed that it was determined in the meetings held under the chairmanship of General Manager Nazım Akkoyunlu, and Deputy Mayor Filiz Deveci also attended these meetings. The violations of the legislation detected during the inspections were evaluated in the meetings held in the municipality building and a separate “price” was determined for each project, and the contractors were called to the municipality accordingly and requested benefits.

SIMULTANEOUS RAID ON 30 ADDRESSES

In line with the findings obtained as a result of the technical and physical follow-up, 30 addresses in Istanbul and Yalova were raided on Tuesday morning by the Istanbul Provincial Police Department Financial Crimes Branch Directorate teams. 20 suspects were detained during the operation.
Approximately 4.5 million TL in cash, 1 cold wallet and many digital materials were seized during the searches. Later, with the arrest of one person, the number of detainees increased to 21.

HE WAS REFERRED TO THE COURTHOUSE

21 suspects, whose statements at the police station were completed, were referred to the Anatolian Courthouse.

The names detained during the operation are as follows: Üsküdar Deputy Mayor Filiz Deveci, Kent A.Ş. General Manager Nazım Akkoyunlu, Kent A.Ş. Architect Barkın Ege Tekkökoğlu, Özgür Ceylan, Building Control Field Chief Hakan Yavuz, Work Follower Ahmet İşman, Veysel Köse, Ceyhan Han, Yasin Karabaş and Burçin Çevik, who works at Istanbul Planning Agency (İPA), Contractor Engin Aras, Sinan Sarıoğlu, Kadir Karadağ, Ufuk Gündüz, Eyüp Meriç, Murat Armağan, Hakan Mansız, Erdem Alkan, Yılmaz Kozan and Mehmet Atilla Güneri are among the actors.

Minister of Internal Affairs Mustafa Çiftçi spoke on the phone with the commissioner who was injured in the terrorist attack on the police station in Beşiktaş, Istanbul and who was receiving treatment in the hospital, and expressed his wishes for a speedy recovery. Minister Çiftçi said: “These vile attacks will never weaken the determination of our security forces.”

Minister of Internal Affairs Mustafa Çiftçi, who was in Azerbaijan as part of his official contacts, spoke on the phone with Commissioner Burak Tolga Atik, who was injured during the terrorist attack in front of the Israeli Consulate in Beşiktaş, Istanbul and is receiving treatment in the hospital. Istanbul Governor Davut Gül and Istanbul Provincial Police Chief Selami Yıldız were present next to Atik, whose treatment continues in the hospital.

Speaking to the commissioner over the phone, Minister Çiftçi said in his statement on his social media account: “On the occasion of the visit of our Istanbul Governor Davut Gül, from Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, with whom we had official contacts, we had a video call with our heroic commissioner Burak Tolga Atik brother, who was injured in the heinous attack in Beşiktaş, Istanbul and whose treatment has been continuing for two days, and conveyed our wishes for his speedy recovery. All our police officers who were subjected to treacherous attacks in the line of duty; the peace of our nation, “They serve with great courage and sacrifice for the survival of our state and the maintenance of public order. I would like to clearly state that our state stands by our heroic police with all its resources. These vile attacks will never weaken the determination of our security forces. I wish a speedy recovery to our injured police officers and wish success to all our police officers.”

Efforts to protect cultural assets continue uninterruptedly with comprehensive restoration and conservation practices carried out in museums. These works, carried out using scientific methods and techniques appropriate to the original material, aim to both preserve the works and re-introduce them to visitors. In this context, the Minister of Culture and Tourism, Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, drew attention to the work in his post on his social media accounts and said: “We continue our restoration and conservation work meticulously to protect our cultural assets and transfer them to the future. We continue our work on the wooden sarcophagi and textile works belonging to our Istanbul Archeology Museums with scientific methods and applications suitable for the original materials, and prepare our works for re-exhibition. All Cultural Assets and Museums that ensure that the works belonging to our different museums are preserved in their original form and carried to the future.” I would like to thank our General Directorate teams.”

WOODEN TOMBS IN MUSEUMS HAVE BEEN PUT INTO A COMPREHENSIVE RESTORATION PROCESS

The wooden sarcophagi in the collection of the Istanbul Archaeological Museums were taken into the restoration process simultaneously with the exhibition and arrangement works of the museum. In the studies carried out by the Restoration and Conservation Central Laboratory experts, the current condition of the works was documented in detail and the necessary interventions were carried out. During the conservation process, deteriorations were recorded through photography using different lighting techniques. Then, while strengthening applications compatible with the original material were carried out, filling and retouching operations were carried out in the missing sections. Following the completion of the work, the works were put into preparation to be exhibited in their new showcases.

PROTECTION IS PROVIDED FOR TEXTILE WORKS THROUGH SCIENTIFIC METHODS

Restoration work was not limited to archaeological artifacts only; Textile works belonging to museums also went through a comprehensive conservation process. The work on the carpets belonging to the Kocaeli Osman Hamdi Bey House and Museum and the banner of the Nevşehir Hacı Bektaş Veli Museum was completed meticulously. After documentation, cleaning and surface leveling, the missing areas were completed with appropriate materials. The works were packaged in acid-free boxes in accordance with preservation standards and transported to the museums they belonged to and made ready for re-exhibition.

CULTURAL HERITAGE IS CARRIED INTO THE FUTURE

The restoration and conservation work carried out aims to preserve the original structure of cultural assets and transfer them to future generations. This process, carried out with scientific methods and meticulous work by expert teams, plays an important role in the protection of Türkiye’s cultural heritage.