Truly protecting the Republic! With deep respect and longing for Turan Karakaş....

As is known, news regarding crypto trader Gökalp İçer recently hit the agenda.

The news stated that Gökalp İçer, the boss of ICYPREX, known as one of the important companies in the crypto exchange market, was using stimulants/drugs at his home, and that a 27-year-old female lawyer registered with the Ankara Bar Association, identified as G.Ç., who was accompanying him, also used the substance and subsequently suffered brain death.

The allegations against İçer were horrific.

Naturally, it was also noteworthy that the news first appeared in the Sabah Newspaper, the flagship of the pro-government media.

Because, as is known, the firm was also working with the Sabah group.

Journalist Murat Ağırel clearly revealed their collaborations. Numerous SEO-content ICYPREX news stories were published on this group's websites, and Gökalp İçer was hosted on their TV channels. Despite this, the Sabah group and some other elements of the pro-government media tried to target opposition journalists.

Of course, the development did not fail to bring the idea of an operation to mind, but the situation was quite clear.

According to what was written, it was alleged that İçer 'admitted' to using drugs. The claim that he tried to clean the house to hide evidence after taking the deceased female lawyer to the hospital was chilling.

In the end, 27-year-old lawyer G.Ç. unfortunately lost her life. She left behind a family consumed by grief.

An arrest warrant was requested and issued for Gökalp İçer on charges of 'supplying narcotic substances' and 'attempted murder with probable intent.'

The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office also took legal action against ICYPREX Kripto Varlık Alım Satım Platformu A.Ş. on July 30, 2025, on the allegation that 'criminal organizations convert income obtained from crimes into foreign currency or crypto assets and introduce them into the financial system.'

Following the report prepared by the Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK), the bank accounts, assets held by electronic money institutions, vehicles, real estate, and company partnership shares belonging to Gökalp İçer and ICYPREX A.Ş. were seized.

Undoubtedly, İçer and his lawyers will defend themselves and claim they are innocent. However, everything I mentioned above are the apparent realities reflected in the public eye.

As former employees of Cumhuriyet Newspaper in the recent period, our awareness of the existence of a person named Gökalp İçer dates back to 2022 or 2023.

İçer had come to the agenda of Cumhuriyet Newspaper with a project to convert the newspaper's 100-year-old unique archive into NFTs. At that time, the management evaluated the project and some meetings were held.

However, suspicious situations later emerged.

These were times when the concept of NFT was being hyped up and news was being made about some artworks being sold for high amounts. But no one had much of an idea about what the issue was.

Most importantly, it was revealed that in the event of a possible grievance in NFT and similar crypto organizations, a legal defense line could not be established, and that there were no studies/existence of labor law regarding this field.

My dear brother, the late Turan Karakaş, a member of the Cumhuriyet Foundation Board of Directors, took precautions as the foundation's lawyer when he learned that the company was selling NFTs through its own site despite there being no agreement or contract, immediately informed the foundation management, and ensured that a formal warning was sent to the company.

As the foundation's lawyer, he also filed a criminal complaint on behalf of the Cumhuriyet Foundation regarding this dangerous act of the company. Look, I repeat. On behalf of the Cumhuriyet Foundation, as the lawyer of the Cumhuriyet Foundation...

The criminal complaint was directed at both İçer, the then-editor-in-chief who walked around the newspaper floors stroking his belly saying "I will bring big money to the newspaper" and was very busy with politics, and individuals named Y.K. and I.H., whose origins were later learned to be from Ankara and whose mysteries have still not been fully solved.

Whatever happened, happened after that.

It was as if a hidden hand, a structure, acted as if it were thinking of Gökalp İçer's interests rather than the interests of Cumhuriyet.

All hell broke loose, and incredibly, lawyer Turan Karakaş was dismissed from his position as the foundation's lawyer.

They attacked foundation lawyer and board member Turan Karakaş, saying, "How dare you file a criminal complaint." They said everything imaginable to Turan, who was battling cancer. Why this panic? If there was no reason for concern, what was the need for this rush?

Clearly, although the process seemed to be conducted openly, there was a situation that endangered the newspaper's archive, and Turan Karakaş was fighting to prevent it.

They ran to the prosecutor's office and said, "We are withdrawing the complaint filed on our behalf against Gökalp İçer and the other persons against whom a criminal complaint was filed."

Therefore, the process was left hanging. If there was a malicious plan, it could not be exposed. And that Gökalp İçer is now in prison with the report prepared by the Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK).

The good side of the process was that the newspaper's archive was saved from being at risk as a result of such a sales transaction. But who the people who came from Ankara and sat at the table for negotiations were, and from whom they took instructions, remained covered up.

While Turan Karakaş was being targeted on one side, attempts were made to make Gökalp İçer, about whom there were great doubts regarding his identity, past, and ambitions, seem sympathetic by saying, "Hey, what did the man do, he was trying to support the newspaper."

That same İçer, shortly after, appeared before the judge on charges of defrauding three Azerbaijani diplomats. It was going to cause a diplomatic crisis.

For some reason, the Azerbaijani diplomats who filed a criminal complaint against İçer and his company must have considered various parameters, as they withdrew their complaints. İçer got off the hook again.

And of course, in the meantime, he was busy getting access bans on all negative news about himself and his company.

What was deemed appropriate for Turan Karakaş is still a deep wound inside me. This wound also keeps my anger alive.

Those who acted as İçer's protectors and lawyers and attacked Karakaş wrote anonymous articles from behind the scenes.

"A pinwheel spinning in windless weather has someone blowing on it," they said. There are very few things in my life that have angered me as much as this statement. Yet, they themselves have become like spinning tops from revolving around the government.

"Cumhuriyet Newspaper is, as always, a target of some circles," they said. Yet they themselves determined strategies with the barons of the government. They received support from Islamist capital. Some of them referred to the former Minister of Interior Soylu as "Sir."

They were not satisfied; they filed a debt lawsuit against Turan Karakaş, who followed the newspaper's and journalists' cases without taking a single penny while he was sick, and who walked to the newspaper while sick so as not to use the newspaper's vehicle, claiming he 'did not pay the rent for the lodging he stayed in.'

Some ambitious people, without ever bringing their names to the agenda, insidiously dripped slanderous words from the tips of their pens. Many people chose to remain silent even though they knew everything.

In short....

I remember with mercy Turan Karakaş, who filed a criminal complaint against those who had the potential to cause such damage with the effort to seize the Cumhuriyet Newspaper's archive as an NFT, who succeeded in protecting the newspaper, who thwarted malicious intentions, and who succeeded in preventing the NFT sale. I miss him very much.

Thanks to the correct attitude he took and the correct attitude we took, a note has been left in history. May Turan Karakaş, who did not let his honor be crushed by his shadow, rest in peace...

With this event, I also carry the badge of honor for reacting to the chocolate box scandal, which went down in the newspaper's history as a shame, and I salute those who carry the same honor.

Those who dismissed Turan Abi from the foundation's lawyership at that time and those who caused the name of Cumhuriyet Newspaper to be associated with chocolate boxes were the same people.

Some said, 'We'll find a way to include the money in the system,' others said, 'Did we take it and put it in our pockets?' Some remained silent despite knowing all the facts and witnessing the confessions. Some acted as if they were reacting.

As a journalist, I did my part and went to the Press Council. I revealed everything with documents.

Both those who tried to do business with ICYPREX Gökalp İçer and those responsible for the chocolate box are still at the newspaper.

Unfortunately, Cumhuriyet is defenseless.

But one thing I know is that the honorable laborers who struggle for journalism for a little above the minimum wage are trying with all their might to write the truth and raise public awareness.

I salute all the laborers I greeted when I left my newspaper once again today. Cumhuriyet continues and will continue to exist despite everything, thanks to their efforts.

The issue should be to protect Cumhuriyet and to be able to continue conveying the truth to its great readership.

Cumhuriyet cannot be defended by pretending to 'not bow to the regime's pressures' while acting exactly as it wants.

It cannot be done by bowing to capital barons who say "I am not a Kemalist," or to the highest-level representatives of capital groups that are the pillars of the government's massive projects. It should not be...

It must remain transparent and honest.. It must be real and sincere.