A bribery offer like this has never been seen

The strange occurrences in the Ayhan Bora Kaplan criminal organization case, which until recently shook not only the police and the judiciary but also the government due to the mention of certain politicians' names, show no signs of ending.

Let us recall some of those strange occurrences.

It was revealed that Serdar Sertçelik, the second defendant in the case, was also the secret witness codenamed M7, and that he fled abroad while under house arrest.

In statements he made from abroad, Sertçelik accused the police officers who conducted the Bora Kaplan operation, claiming they wanted him to name certain politicians, which led to an operation being launched against those very police officers. Sertçelik has been detained in Hungary since July; however, for some reason, not much effort is being made for his extradition to Turkey.

Following Sertçelik, numerous other witnesses, primarily the other secret witness in the file codenamed Ü5, withdrew their statements, and complainants withdrew their complaints. All these developments have been interpreted as a sign that Bora Kaplan's "power" remains intact.

BEFORE HIS TESTIMONY IN COURT

Our subject is Erkan Doğan, who did not withdraw his complaint against the alleged criminal organization.

Erkan Doğan, who claimed that he was kidnapped by Kaplan and Barış Kurt—a former AKP Ankara Provincial Deputy Chair and Çankaya Municipal Council member, and one of Bora Kaplan's associates—and taken to a plaza where his teeth were pulled out with pliers because he demanded money owed to him, was the person who ensured that Bora Kaplan was detained at Esenboğa Airport while attempting to go abroad and that this file was opened.

Erkan Doğan, who was heard at the hearing on May 20 and reiterated his allegations while maintaining his complaint against the defendants, stated that Barış Kurt's relatives called him to prevent him from appearing on television, and even offered him certain sums of money before the hearing, which he recorded and could present to the court if requested.

That recording mentioned by Erkan Doğan has reached the Ankara 32nd High Criminal Court, which is hearing the case, as well as the Ankara 13th Criminal Court of First Instance, where the police officers who conducted the Bora Kaplan operation are being tried.

RECKLESSNESS, NAIVETY, OR A STAGED FILM?

We obtained this recording through lawyers and watched it. Here is what we saw:

Before the hearing on May 20, a person calls Erkan Doğan, and he records this video call they made via WhatsApp. It is understood from the conversation that Erkan Doğan knows the person calling him well. The caller first opens and shows a bag full of dollars, and then the following dialogue takes place:

E. Doğan: What is that, my friend?

Caller: You know what it is.

E. Doğan: The amount?

Caller: They have prepared it in dollars.

E. Doğan: Your people's tricks and films never end.

Caller: They say, ‘Let him give the same testimony, he can take the money from you.’ They say, ‘We won't give it without him giving it.’ The money is here.

E. Doğan: Fine, no problem. Everyone to their own business. I am no one's civil servant; I would burn the quilt for a flea. I have seen plenty of such money in suitcases because of Barış. I am not a man to be bought with money or wealth. Have we ever had anything to do with money or wealth? No one can impose anything on me. I am neither their errand boy nor their servant. If something is wanted, it must be as I say, not as he says. My dialogue is not like setting traps for people.

Caller: If you go and give your testimony in a different way, it won't be of any use to him.

E. Doğan: Useful or not; he has a world of lawyers. I know what they want to do. I have touched life, and I did my master's degree alongside Barış Kurt, brother. I have already burned the bridges; whether I have one enemy or a thousand, it makes no difference.

In the continuation of the conversation, the caller states that Erkan Doğan is only asked to give the first statement he gave in 2016, and he has him write down the provided statement sample line by line. Erkan Doğan pretends to write and occasionally intervenes, saying:

“Who wrote that, Cengiz? He was the one who made us give the first statement anyway... Barış Kurt is trying to strengthen his own statement, the jackals...”

In the final part of the statement that Erkan Doğan is allegedly asked to give in court, the following accusations are directed at the police officers who conducted the operation:

“I struggled for nearly 1.5 years to collect what Barış Kurt owed me. He kept stalling me. He gave me pocket money. I became officially addicted to alcohol. I lost my kiosk. I fell into a very difficult economic situation... They called me from the Organized Crime Bureau and put my previous statements about Ayhan Bora Kaplan and the named individuals in front of me. I told the truth about the incident, but they said they would take me to the prosecutor, that they would have me give a new statement there about Ayhan Bora Kaplan, Barış Kurt, and the others named, that I should say I did not complain because I was afraid they were a criminal organization, that this was a state matter, and that otherwise, they would make many accusations against me and have me arrested as part of the operation, and that we would construct it together based on the statement I gave to the prosecutor in 2018. In this context, they said they had also put my phone under surveillance and would construct it with some HTS records, and that they would support my statement. I consented... They asked about the findings regarding my teeth in the report I received from the Forensic Medicine Institute at that time. I said I had problems with my teeth due to illness and that a few teeth I had had done had fallen out. However, they told me, 'We will have a new report taken. When you testify to the prosecutor, say that Ayhan Bora Kaplan pulled your teeth out with pliers,' and they made me memorize the statement. They took me to the prosecutor on September 7, 2023. I tried to testify as they said. After I left the testimony, they got angry at me, saying, 'You said it incompletely, you said it wrong.' They took me back to the Police Department and prepared the statement again. They also got a report from the doctor according to the statement they constructed themselves. The Police Department said, 'From now on, you are under our protection and supervision. We will cover all your material and moral damages. You will do whatever we say. You will not meet with anyone without our knowledge. You will do interviews with certain television channels. We are aware of all of them. Your life will be saved in the way we tell you.' Until 10 days ago, they were constantly checking on me and contacting me. When I watched the news about the allegations and investigations by the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Justice, and the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office regarding these individuals, I realized how much danger I was put in and decided to tell the truth. I am filing a complaint against the officials who used me for their own purposes.”

“SHOW ME THOSE GREENS”

During the reading and writing of this final section, the following remarkable conversations also take place:

E. Doğan: A complete devil.

Caller: So many people left the Police Department. Look at where he connects it now. His foot is in the Presidential Palace... he puts the devil to shame...

E. Doğan: This is devilry. Don't you see the last plan he made, he took the police chiefs. He likes to make plans.

Caller: What were they waiting for?

E. Doğan: He left me for last. That's why the price might go up, let me tell you. Eeee, what will happen now?

Caller: Brother, we will return, we will get out.

E. Doğan: How the statement has been prepared stitch by stitch, everyone's tail is tied to each other, everyone's. And when I give this statement, I become mud, I become a rag... Didn't he send any news from inside, saying, ‘It will be like this, it will be like that.’?

Caller: Like what? About you? You cling to that.

E. Doğan: Who is he for me to cling to, may the devil see his face.

Caller: It is enough that you don't touch each other.

E. Doğan: How will that happen?

Caller: I don't know, he gives assurance.

E. Doğan: Show me those greens.

Caller: I hid them while our people were not at home.

E. Doğan: What do you think will happen? What happened to the police chiefs?

Caller: There is nothing in your statement that will put you in a difficult position.

E. Doğan: At most, they will do something for false testimony. Also, my situation has changed, I have a world of compensation still.

Have you ever seen such a recorded, documented bribery offer?

If it is true; look at the recklessness, audacity, or comfort?

And if it is not; what is this, it is impossible to understand.

Naturally, we asked Barış Kurt's lawyers about the incident.

Attorney Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sinan Kocaoğlu said he was unaware of such a development. Attorney Nazmi Kobal stated that the recording in question was not uploaded to UYAP and that since he was in Istanbul, he had no way of obtaining it from the court, claiming, “We did not reach out to Erkan Doğan. We did not direct anyone either. It will turn out to be baseless. It is his own fabrication. He is trying to burn Barış Kurt even more. It is entirely his own organization.”