And that famous chief public prosecutor has entered the Bora Kaplan file!...

You have likely been following the developments regarding Bora Kaplan, who was detained in a sensational operation at Esenboğa Airport on allegations of being the leader of an organized crime syndicate.

Ankara was shaken when M7, one of the secret witnesses in the file and also the number two of the organization, fled abroad and claimed that police officers had pressured him to name AKP officials. The figures at the head of the Ankara Organized Crime Bureau (KOM) who conducted the operation were either arrested or suspended.

Following this, the second secret witness, Ü5, retracted his testimony, claiming it was “obtained under duress and violence.”

What concerns us is what happened after the testimony given by “M7”—that is, Serdar Sertçelik, who exposed himself—in his capacity as a “secret witness.”

As is known, while Bora Kaplan and his men were in custody, the name that came to the agenda most frequently was Yüksel Kocaman; someone we know from Erdoğan’s Pınarhisar Prison days, who became a “rising star” of the judiciary during the AKP era, served as the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor between 2017-2020, and was elected as a member of the Court of Cassation after 2020. In interviews conducted by the police, it was alleged that Bora Kaplan and some other suspects said that Kaplan had bought a villa and a car for Kocaman. Kocaman, however, denied these allegations.

HOW THE POLICE INVESTIGATED KOCAMAN

Let us return to M7, that is, Serdar Sertçelik.

In his 19-page testimony given as a secret witness on October 9, 2023, Sertçelik stated that Yüksel Kocaman, Bora Kaplan, and two other people received 3 million dollars to ensure the release of a company owner...

Anything else?

He stated that Bora Kaplan gave instructions for all of his shipping business to be conducted by a company in which Yüksel Kocaman was an unofficial partner...

He explained that Kaplan had the renovation and furniture of Kocaman’s house done, and also gifted him a BMW 5.20 model vehicle...

Following this testimony, the prosecutor conducting the investigation sent a letter marked “urgent and important” to the Organized Crime Bureau (KOM) on November 8, 2023, requesting that the secret witness’s testimony be “meticulously examined and the necessary investigation be carried out” in order to “serve as a basis for evidence collection.”

The police investigation lasted approximately 5 months. In the meantime, of course, the indictment had been accepted, and the trial of Bora Kaplan and 61 defendants had begun at the 32nd High Criminal Court.

Naturally, the Police Department sent this 199-page investigation report to the Court on April 24 to be added to the case file.

The report in question bore the signature of Kerem Gökay Öner, the KOM Branch Manager, who was detained in recent days following Serdar Sertçelik’s revelations and was released with a travel ban after becoming a confessor.

Let us come to the crux of the matter.

It turns out that KOM had also investigated one by one the allegations regarding Yüksel Kocaman mentioned in the testimony of the “M7” coded Serdar Sertçelik, such as: “He has a company where he is an unofficial partner... Bora Kaplan had his house renovated and furnished... He bought a BMW.”

For example, regarding the company, it was stated: “In the research conducted on the system, it was determined through closed-source research that individuals named F.K., H.K., and Y.K. are company partners, and that Yüksel Kocaman was a company partner between 22.12.1992 and 23.07.2008,” and data obtained from MASAK (Financial Crimes Investigation Board) and financial movements were shown...

The testimonies of the architect who allegedly drew the plans for the furniture to be bought for Kocaman’s villa in 2020 upon Bora Kaplan’s instructions, and the individuals who allegedly supplied the furniture and performed the decoration, were taken as “persons with knowledge.” Two of these individuals explicitly referred to Yüksel Kocaman as “Chief Prosecutor” and explained that Bora Kaplan made the payment. After these testimonies, the information provided by these individuals was summarized under the heading “findings,” and it was emphasized that the described villa belonged to Yüksel Kocaman. Furthermore, a satellite image of the villa was added to the file and labeled as “Yüksel Kocaman’s residential address.”

As for the allegation that Bora Kaplan gifted Kocaman a BMW 5.20 M model car; for this, the testimony of M.A., the owner of the auto gallery named by M7 coded Serdar Sertçelik, was sought. M.A. explained that he exchanged Yüksel Kocaman’s BMW 3.20 model vehicle for a BMW 5.20 by taking an additional 150 thousand liras, that Kocaman’s bodyguards carried out these transactions, that 7 months later they exchanged this vehicle for a Land Rover model vehicle by taking an additional 210 thousand liras, that the price of the Land Rover at that time was 1 million 200 thousand liras, that the transactions were again carried out by Kocaman’s bodyguards, and that the difference was transferred from Kocaman’s wife’s bank account to his own company account.

Whether the allegations regarding Kocaman are true or false; what we will say is this:

It is clear how proceedings should be conducted against a member of the Court of Cassation, but this is how KOM investigates Yüksel Kocaman, and these are entering the file of Bora Kaplan, who is alleged to be an “organized crime syndicate leader”!..

In short; it seems that the scandals in this investigation will not be limited to police chiefs!..

Müyesser YILDIZ

May 24, 2024