The Bora Kaplan Case has stirred up the media after the MHP!..

Our journalist colleague İsmail Arı had published a report regarding the Ayhan Bora Kaplan case before he was detained in the middle of the night in his hometown of Tokat, where he had gone to celebrate the holiday.

The report concerned certain WhatsApp messages reflected in a report obtained by the Prosecutor's Office from experts, which was found hanging on the door of the office of a lawyer for one of the police officers arrested and tried for "neglect of duty" in the escape of Serdar Sertçelik, who carried out the Bora Kaplan operation but later became both the secret witness code-named M7 and the number two defendant in this case. According to the messages, "İzzet U." had added the section to the group speech that resulted in the arrest of the police officers whom MHP Leader Devlet Bahçeli accused of "coup plotting."

This report was not among the accusations directed at İsmail Arı, but everyone following the process understood what was what, and after Arı's arrest, I summarized what had happened and wrote, "It is understood that the Bora Kaplan case will branch out even further in the context of the 'mafia-judiciary-politics' triangle."

As a coincidence, a few days later, MHP Deputy Chairman İzzet Ulvi Yönter resigned from his post. Bahçeli also announced that Yönter had "resigned because he wanted to focus on his academic studies."

Prosecutors, Police Officers, and Journalists Accused by the Police

Following the partial reversal decision by the appellate court, the retrial of the Ayhan Bora Kaplan case began this time last week. Due to the appellate court's consolidation decision, the police officers who conducted the operation are also being tried alongside Bora Kaplan. The police officers are also in the position of complainants in the case due to the found phone.

In last week's hearings, while Bora Kaplan and Serdar Sertçelik stated that they could not make a defense because the entire file and digital evidence were not provided to them, the defenses of some of the defendant/complainant police officers were taken.

On Thursday, the former Deputy Chief of the Ankara Police Department and current Chief Police Inspector Murat Çelik spoke. Stating that they had obtained strong evidence that the Ayhan Bora Kaplan criminal organization was in cooperation with chief prosecutors, prosecutors, and even judges, Çelik also voiced the following allegations:

"The leader of the organization is not Bora Kaplan; there are bigger ones. Unfortunately, they have also infiltrated politics... They have a mastermind. Alp Aslan (Ankara Deputy Police Chief during the Süleyman Soylu era) manages the perception and can use journalists. Abdurrahman Şimşek, Nedim Şener... How are we going to fight such an organization?"

Şevket Demircan, the former Deputy Branch Manager of the Anti-Smuggling and Organized Crime (KOM) Department who made his defense on Friday, also accused the former Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor and current Supreme Court member Yüksel Kocaman, as well as Veysel Kaçmaz, who was the Deputy Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor during both Kocaman's term and now, and Abdurrahman Şimşek.

These are the statements made at the Ankara 32nd High Criminal Court. There are even more names in the statements that Çelik and Demircan gave to the investigation prosecutor as complainants regarding the found phone.

If we start from the judicial side; after saying, "I have taken part in many organized operations before, but this is the first time I have encountered an organization that is so structured and capable of carrying out effective actions in the courthouse and the Police Department," Çelik requested that Deputy Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor Veysel Kaçmaz, who issued the detention decision regarding them, be included in the file as a suspect.

He Did Not Want Kaplan's Brother to be Detained

Demircan also made the following allegations regarding Ahmet Yıkılmaz, the former Deputy Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor who was responsible for the Bora Kaplan investigation but was appointed as a Supreme Court prosecutor a few months after the operation:

"He himself was saying the names of the individuals to be detained in the operational work we were going to carry out. He did not want some individuals to be detained. The most notable of these was Ayhan Bora Kaplan's brother. Although we said many times that this person should be taken in, he gave a negative answer every time. We had set up a WhatsApp group, and Ahmet Yıkılmaz was also in the group. However, while even the messages I exchanged with my wife were put into the file, Ahmet Yıkılmaz's instructions were not. I want this to be investigated. We carried out the instructions Ahmet Yıkılmaz gave us without questioning them, but as will be seen, he sabotaged the investigation by conspiring against us, directing it in favor of the organization, and ultimately aiming to exonerate the organization. I am of the opinion that he leaked information about the operation to the criminal organization from the messages on the found phone. I demand that it be determined whether Ahmet Yıkılmaz has a connection with the organization and that his financial records, account movements, and HTS records be examined."

After stating that these two police chiefs also accused many police officers they worked with—led by the former KOM Branch Manager Kerem Gökay Öner—as well as those before them, of "acting together with the criminal organization," let us come to the media part of the prosecution statements.

Did Şimşek Have the Police Chief Followed?

While Murat Çelik pointed out that the names of Abdurrahman Şimşek, İsmail Saymaz, and Nedim Şener were mentioned in some messages on the found phone, he explained that on December 11, 2024, while giving a statement to the prosecutor without even knowing what they were accused of, Zihni Çakır shared a post saying, "The suspects are expected to be referred to the courthouse in the coming hours. According to judicial sources, it is alleged that the investigation is being referred with charges of aiding and abetting, if not being a member of FETÖ," and emphasized that he asked the prosecutor how this happened, to which the prosecutor replied, "What do you mean, are you accusing me?"

Çelik also noted the following:

"There are some names that hurt me the most, who have made slanderous reports with heavy accusations against me that should never have been. The ones that caught my attention the most are Abdurrahman Şimşek, Halit Turan, Nazif Karaman, Zihni Çakır, Cem Küçük, and Nedim Şener. Before I was detained, while I had just been suspended, Abdurrahman Şimşek had me filmed in the location where I provided my position in Dikmen Valley while I was waiting to meet my lawyer with my protection police friends because there was a protection order for me. He also exposed the police vehicle by saying, 'How is Murat Çelik riding in this police vehicle even though he is suspended?' The protection measure was taken together with the allocation of a police vehicle. I think a woman in her 30s or 40s in a gray Mercedes jeep, whom I suspected that day, filmed me there and that these images were sent to Abdurrahman Şimşek by that person. Because the area we were in is secluded; it is not open to the public, it is not a parking lot—it is a back road leading down to Dikmen Valley. It is absolutely impossible for it to be a coincidental encounter due to going up to the restaurant. I evaluate that this could be the result of a follow-up, and I think my live base information was shared with Abdurrahman Şimşek. Or it will be a matter of them having me physically followed in a very serious way. I want this issue and Abdurrahman Şimşek's connection with the organization to be investigated."

Nedim Şener's "Carpet Seller" Analogy

Murat Çelik's statement regarding Nedim Şener is as follows:

"I especially want it to be asked why and for what purpose he made broadcasts containing such heavy insults against a public official like me who has fought against FETÖ. In a broadcast he made, Nedim Şener stated about me, 'He looks like the carpet sellers at Ankara Castle.' As an honorable member of the Turkish Police, I honorably protect the castles, the bagel sellers, and the carpet sellers of this country. He did everything he could to insult me. He even stated in one of his broadcasts that he interviewed a high-level police KOM official he knows. Supposedly, that high-level police chief is one of the top people in the fight against organized crime, he doesn't even feel the need to carry a weapon, and he criticizes the operations I conducted. Everyone in the Turkish police force is required to carry a weapon. Someone who does not carry a weapon cannot protect their country, their nation, or even themselves. I demand that it be asked what information which prosecutor or which police chief gave to Nedim Şener about me, and that the relationships of those officials with criminal organizations be investigated."

Şimşek's Account and HTS Records Should be Checked

Former Deputy KOM Branch Manager Şevket Demircan also directed the following accusations at Abdurrahman Şimşek, his assistant Halit Turan, and Zihni Çakır in his prosecution statement:

"It is seen in the WhatsApp messages on the found phone that Abdurrahman Şimşek was asked to report against us, and that the person accepted this and launched a heavy slander-smear campaign against us on social media and in the national press. I am also complaining about the journalist named Halit Turan, his assistant. He also left us under suspicion by making false reports. I want the financial account movements and HTS records of these two journalists, who slander us using their journalist identity and play with our dignity and honor, to be investigated to see if they have connections with members of the criminal organization. Also, it is written in the WhatsApp messages that Abdurrahman Şimşek would organize other journalists to make propaganda for the organization and broadcasts against us. Who are these other journalists? Let them be revealed. The person named Zihni Çakır also made allegations that we were aiding and abetting, if not being a member of FETÖ. While we were still giving statements at the prosecutor's office, who did he learn this from, who served it? I am complaining; I want his connection with the criminal organization to be investigated."

Very Interesting Questions from Zihni Çakır to Çelik

After Murat Çelik's statement in court, Zihni Çakır wrote on his social media account, using the code "M.Ç.", "He continues to make nonsensical associations by criticizing my reports regarding the processes he was involved in, including the reports I made about their detention, and adding them to the side of 'honey' journalists. Nedim Şener and Abdurrahman Şimşek might be silent, but it became inevitable to note that I will give the real answer when the time and place come, by making these reminders for now to that chief who knows best that I am someone who will not be silent," and asked the following:

"Didn't you say yourself at our very first meeting that the reason you wanted to meet me through intermediaries was that I was getting effective news from the judiciary/police backstage, and that I caught your attention with this aspect? (The police officer who was the witness is T.T.)... Weren't you the one who shared with all our mutual acquaintances the support I gave you when you were taken from the Organized Crime Department and given to the Bomb Disposal Unit due to the interrogation of a female Governor who was detained on suspicion of FETÖ during the July 15 operation and investigation process, and when you were almost going to be dismissed in the ongoing process, and said, 'I cannot repay your kindness'?.. Didn't you send a message through intermediaries calling me 'Turkey's bravest journalist' and convey your 'respects' with the pleasure you got from the news I made, including publishing many details for the first time during the investigation, prosecution, and trial process of a Police Chief (A.A.) whom you saw as an enemy, whom you said 'I will settle the score' on the day you took office, and who was eventually dismissed based on a judicial file you were the law enforcement for?.. You are making an implication of a media leg of a so-called 'organization' that is always on the tongue of you and your ilk just because of the news I made! Well, where and in whose 'office' did you meet with me after your two colleague friends, who were once arrested on 'FETÖ allegations,' were released? Let me give you a hint to refresh your memory; I am talking about the meeting that took place at your request, where you parked your vehicles 3 streets away from the building where we met and left your phones in the vehicle... You know, in your statement, you are almost accusing the investigation prosecutor of leaking information to me about the content of the investigation being conducted against you; when you called me via WhatsApp on the 'afternoon' of November 15, 2023, and I reminded you of the operation images and information reflected in the press regarding the ABK operation and said, 'Why doesn't it come to us but appears in the opposition media,' didn't you say, 'What can we do, you guys can't write, so it's forced to them'? Didn't I remind you of my support during the period you lived after this? Did I not remind you of my support during the period you lived after this?.. In the WhatsApp conversation we had a few days after this meeting, didn't you suggest that I give a statement for the injustices I suffered during the 2 separate detention processes I experienced while the Police Chiefs A.A. and O.Ö., whom you see as enemies, were in office, and that there was an investigation regarding them? Did I not reject your suggestion by saying that my complaint was a matter of administrative investigation, not judicial investigation?.. In the same conversation, didn't I say to you, 'Do not act with a sense of revenge and do not enter into unlawful ways. Do not try to take revenge by going outside the law, even if you are right, from people you think have done you injustice. You have been waiting for 8 years to come to this position, do not finish yourself in 8 months'?.. After you were arrested and released on the allegation of 'moles' for which you are being tried, didn't you ask me to make news and posts that would provide 'restitution of reputation' in the eyes of the public at the venue I went to upon the invitation of a mutual friend in the Söğütözü region, where I still believe it was a 'coincidence'?.. After all these 9 years of experiences, were you not ashamed at all while saying those words in your statement and at the hearing?"

Nedim Şener Filed a Lawsuit and Reminded Erdoğan and Bahçeli

Nedim Şener, one of the accused names, filed a criminal complaint with the Bakırköy Chief Public Prosecutor's Office the day after the hearing and requested that a lawsuit be filed against Murat Çelik for the crime of "slander." Şener's lawyer, Mehdi Güngör, emphasized the following in the criminal complaint:

"My client has fought against organized crimes such as bribery and corruption, especially terrorist organizations such as FETÖ and PKK, throughout his professional life and has written news, articles, and books on this subject. For this reason, my client has been subjected to threats and slander by FETÖ, PKK, and mafia-based formations throughout his career. Today, he is facing the slander of former Ankara Deputy Police Chief Murat Çelik. In his columns, my client wrote that Ayhan Bora Kaplan is a criminal organization and has connections in politics, the judiciary, the bureaucracy, and the police. On the other hand, while explaining the conspiracy set up using the criminal organization, the conspiracy in which Murat Çelik's name is mentioned was expressed as a FETÖ-like conspiracy by President Erdoğan, MHP Leader Bahçeli, and Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya."

Let's see whose names we will hear in this week's hearings!..

Müyesser YILDIZ

April 13, 2026