The Bora Kaplan file and the photograph the Deputy Minister of Justice is looking for!..

The scandal that began with the revelations of the secret witness “M7” in the case of Bora Kaplan, who was arrested on charges of being a criminal organization leader, is branching out and growing. Just look, it is alleged that Deputy Minister of Justice Akın Gürlek was followed and his photograph was taken... It is also being discussed that a famous prosecutor and some lawyers have been “caught on the hook”... The latest development is the suspicion that the second secret witness, “Ü5”, who retracted his testimony five days ago, has also been detained and his identity has been exposed!..

Let us explain these latest developments one by one.

When Serdar Sertçelik, the case's number two defendant and most important secret witness who revealed his identity after fleeing abroad, claimed that the police officers conducting the investigation were trying to include the names of some AKP members in the file, the situation became chaotic. While very different assessments were made regarding the incident in the political arena, police chiefs who signed off on the Bora Kaplan operation and some civilians were initially detained. Nowadays, the focus is on secret witness Sertçelik's departure abroad, and it is being recounted that police officers helped him escape.

The contradiction is this; according to the allegations, the police wanted him to name certain AKP members, but he did not accept. Indeed, the names of the AKP members in question do not appear in his 19-page official statement. If so, why would the police, who could not get what they wanted, protect and help Sertçelik escape? As the number two defendant in the case, they could have at least arrested him and put him in jail, right?!..

What we are saying is; the fact that the Bora Kaplan case is currently being conducted entirely through the allegations of this person, who is a convicted felon and a fugitive, has turned into a situation like a madman throwing a stone into a well.

We mentioned it recently; Bora Kaplan also explained in the hearing that the police put a list of 40-50 people in front of him, but he did not accept it. Bora Kaplan had another important claim; he said the police asked him about his photograph with a Kalashnikov in front of the TRT building during the July 15 coup attempt and wanted him to blame state units.

Interestingly, while the Court did not dwell on the allegation of that list of 40-50 people, it asked where he found the Kalashnikovs. Kaplan replied, “I cannot say it here. I will tell you privately.”

If he had explained where he found those weapons; wouldn't we be talking about completely different things now?!

IS THERE A PROBLEM IN THE POLICE BUT NOT IN THE JUDICIARY?

Have you noticed; the actions of the police are always being discussed in the scandal, while the judicial dimension is being ignored.

However, after the detention operation in September, the judicial dimension was discussed more, and it was talked about that 7 files opened against Kaplan in previous years, which resulted in “non-prosecution”, were closed.

According to the allegations; at the top of the names pointed to here was the then-Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor, and current Supreme Court Member Yüksel Kocaman. The police who carried out the operation asked Kaplan about his relationship with Kocaman in his “off-the-record statement”, and he explained that he had bought a villa and a car for Kocaman. Of course, Kocaman denied these; but he also made remarkable statements along with them. Let us recall these assessments that Kocaman made to Seyhan Avşar from Halk TV in the context of the current discussions.

Kocaman, who said regarding the leaking of the footage of Bora Kaplan being caught at Esenboğa, “There is an operation here from the beginning. You might not like it, but I think this is an operation against Süleyman Soylu. The investigation also has a procedure. I was surprised by this style of the Police. What is being done might please some people. But this is a state of law. These practices, applied to him today and to someone else tomorrow, are unacceptable. We cannot act with emotions,” added the following:

“However, it appears that there are still crypto-FETÖ members in the Police, and they are trying to wear down the process by leaking information during the investigation phase. That is how I understand it.”

Aside from the allegations in question; in the end, an indictment was prepared based on two open investigation files, a case was opened, and Kaplan and other defendants began to be tried for charges that had previously been given “non-prosecution” decisions.

Well, shouldn't those who gave those “non-prosecution” decisions at least have been looked into? But it was not done. Why, I wonder? There are two possibilities:

First; the “non-prosecution” decisions were correct, but even though they were correct, these decisions were lifted and made the subject of a retrial!..

Second; the “non-prosecution” decisions were wrong, but it was not desired to go after those who signed them!..

Let us come to the present day. Look at the contradiction; one wing of the pro-government media, based on the audio recordings released by secret witness Serdar Sertçelik, reports that “a setup was also intended to be made against Yüksel Kocaman”...

Another wing argues that the previous police authorities prepared a complete file on Kaplan, but that he escaped from them “thanks to his relationships within the judiciary”...

Which one should we believe?!

Another detail regarding secret witness Serdar Sertçelik:

Experienced prosecutors say that Sertçelik, who is also the number two defendant in the case, cannot legally be made a “secret witness” and can at most benefit from effective remorse. So, what is the reason for this absurdity and who is responsible?

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE SECOND SECRET WITNESS “Ü5”?

Let us move on to the second secret witness “Ü5”. During the hearings last month, some defendants claimed that “Ü5” was wandering around the Police Department during the investigation process and directing the suspects.

On the last day of the hearing, the Court President, upon the warning of the Police Witness Protection Branch Directorate that an attempt was made to expose the identity of “Ü5”, announced that they had heard him in a special hearing between sessions, that the footage of that testimony would be given to the lawyers who requested it, and noted that if they had questions, they could hear “Ü5” again between sessions if they notified them in writing.

As far as we have learned, “Ü5”, who was heard in Court in January or February with his voice and image changed, was first made to swear that he would “tell the truth”. “Ü5”, who answered all the questions of the Court President during his 1-hour testimony and gave information one by one about the suspects he knew, was finally asked whether his Prosecution statement was true. “Ü5” said, “It is true.”

Now we learn that “Ü5” submitted a petition to the Court five days ago stating, “My previous statement in your court does not reflect the truth. I gave it under duress and threat. It is not true.”

It is understood that he retracted his Prosecution statement. Fine, but we know that he repeated the same things in that secret session of the Court. So what will happen to this statement? Who made him say these things a few months ago, and who made him retract them now? If anyone understands, let them come forward!..

There was another breaking news development the other day. While it was reported that N.Ö.K., who provided the connection between secret witness Serdar Sertçelik and police chief Şevket Demircan, was detained, the pro-government newspaper Sabah wrote the name clearly. The following details were also included in Sabah's report:

“It was determined that K. facilitated the meetings between Sertçelik and Demircan through his own phone and social media account, that he gave a statement within the scope of the file, and that he met with the suspects from the outside at the Organized Crime Branch Directorate. It was determined that K. directed the suspects to give statements, and that the personnel, including the branch manager, knew K. as the commissioner of the special team.”

Let us assume that it is a coincidence that this information in the news matches the statement of the defendants in the hearing regarding “Ü5” that “he wandered around the Police Department and directed the suspects.”

Then who was the one who mediated the meeting of Serdar Sertçelik, who was in the TRNC during a period when he was wanted, with the KOM (Anti-Smuggling and Organized Crime Department) and convinced him to come to Turkey? N.K.

If the “Ö” in between were not there, wouldn't it come to mind that this secret witness was also detained and his identity was officially exposed?!

THE PROSECUTOR, LAWYERS, AND THE PHOTOGRAPH

Our colleague İsmail Saymaz recently signed off on another striking piece of news. The incident, which Deputy Minister of Justice Akın Gürlek also confirmed, is as follows:

During the month of Ramadan between March 11 and April 9, Gürlek attended an iftar dinner organized by the Chief Public Prosecutor and peace judges on duty at the Ankara Courthouse, to which some lawyers were also invited. After the iftar, two judges and two lawyers saw Gürlek off. Meanwhile, a photograph was taken. But the judges in the photo were cropped out, giving the impression that he was only with the two lawyers. Then this photograph was placed in front of Ankara Police Chief Engin Dinç.

Upon learning this, Deputy Minister Gürlek called Dinç and asked, “You followed me and took my photograph. My photograph was on your desk. Is it true?” and Dinç, swearing, replied, “There is no such thing.”

As for the truth of the matter; the person being followed here is not Gürlek, but one of those two lawyers. İsmail Saymaz, after giving the information about this lawyer, “His name is Fatih Atalay. Serdar Sertçelik claims that he knows he solves the organization's problems in exchange for money. However, Atalay is not among the defendants in the case,” also conveyed the following statement by Gürlek:

“We do not have a meeting regarding Atalay's file. I did not call him specifically. I have no dialogue. Is there a problem with this friend? No. Do I have an inappropriate photograph? No.”

Before coming to what the “problem” with Atty. Atalay is, let us also underline the following parts of the post made by former AKP deputy Şamil Tayyar the other day regarding the Bora Kaplan case:

“Of course, there are those who get caught on the hook while some organization members are being followed. Especially a prosecutor and some lawyers who are very well known in Ankara. This group, in order to appear powerful in phone conversations, mentions names and talks about being intimate with some politicians and bureaucrats, spreading hope. These baseless allegations caught in wiretap records are also being filtered out in the investigation. When a coup scenario is written through a secret witness, baseless allegations that were not added to the case file are also brought to the agenda and used as material for the scenario. As in the Akın Gürlek incident. There is no follow-up there that directly targets Gürlek's person.”

WAS PERMISSION FOR INVESTIGATION REQUESTED REGARDING THAT LAWYER?

We do not know who the “prosecutor and some lawyers who are very well known in Ankara” that Şamil Tayyar refers to are; but let us briefly recall Atty. Fatih Atalay, who is alleged to have a photograph with Deputy Minister of Justice Akın Gürlek.

He is a name who has been the lawyer of former Ankara Metropolitan Mayor Melih Gökçek for decades and has been “identified” with Gökçek. So much so that it turned out that Atty. Atalay was one of the names to whom Gökçek transferred the transaction when he illegally purchased the municipal housing.

In addition to his closeness to the AKP, Atty. Atalay, who was known for his praise-filled messages he wrote to Fethullah Gülen in the past, most recently made headlines in 2019 when he montaged a photograph of Meral Akşener with her husband and shared it on live broadcast, saying, “She has a photo with Fethullah Gülen.”

Let us get to the point; 11 days before the Bora Kaplan case, which started on April 15, there was a remarkable piece of news in the media.

According to the news; the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office had reached findings that Fatih Atalay, who was Bora Kaplan's lawyer during the period he was arrested, intervened in the Kaplan investigation by using his influence in the judiciary at that time and tried to influence the judiciary, and after completing its examination, it took action to initiate an investigation against Atalay and -because he is a lawyer- requested investigation permission from the Ministry of Justice.

However, the Ministry of Justice did not respond to this request of the Prosecutor's Office.

As far as we have followed, no one denied this development during that process.

The first hearings of the Bora Kaplan case have come and gone... The file has reached the state we have been discussing for days...

But we still do not know whether the Prosecutor's Office really requested investigation permission from the Ministry of Justice regarding Atty. Atalay, and if they did, whether the ministry responded, and if they did, what kind of answer came, is that good?!

The meaning and importance of that photograph that Deputy Minister of Justice Akın Gürlek is chasing is understood, isn't it?

The Bora Kaplan case will continue today. Let's see what will happen!..

Müyesser YILDIZ

May 20, 2024