'Feasting' at the YEE: 'The presidency would send the firms from above'

For weeks, we have been discussing the corruption at the Yunus Emre Institute (YEE), which is alleged to amount to billions of liras. Rahmi Göktaş, the husband of Minister of Family and Social Services Mahinur Özdemir Göktaş, and Kutalmış Yalçın, the son of MHP Deputy Chairman Semih Yalçın—both of whom were Vice Presidents—quietly left their posts. Subsequently, some personnel working at the institution were detained and arrested. An arrest warrant was issued for the former president, Şeref Ateş, who served here for exactly 6 years, one day after he went to Germany. However, to this day, not a single government official, especially from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, which is responsible for the YEE, has spoken up.

I had become attentive to the state-supported, semi-official YEE, established in May 2007 with the “Yunus Emre Foundation Law,” due to certain characteristics of its first president, Prof. Ali Fuat Bilkan, and statements he made in a conversation, and I began to monitor it from afar in the following years.

The founders of the YEE, whose name is “fitting” and whose fields of activity are extremely “sublime,” were prominent figures. The founding Board of Trustees consisted of the then-President Abdullah Gül, along with three former AKP ministers and TOBB President Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu. The Board of Trustees included numerous ministers, from the then-Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu to Minister of Finance Mehmet Şimşek, as well as professors from universities.

Important names such as the then-Undersecretary of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism İsmet Yılmaz and Deputy Undersecretary of the Prime Ministry Dr. Hakan Fidan also served on the Board of Directors of the Yunus Emre Foundation.

The characteristic of the first President, Prof. Ali Fuat Bilkan, was this: he had been transferred to TOBB from Fatih University, founded by the “community” (as it was called at the time), and it began to be said that the YEE had also fallen into the hands of the community.

I will not prolong the history; in 2010, while the corruption in Deniz Feneri was being discussed, when it was revealed that the historic Tekel building in Ankara had been rented to the Yunus Emre Foundation for 49 years at an unknown price, I wrote the following:

“In Deniz Feneri, the donations of individuals are in question. Here, however, it is the right of 70 million, starting with the poor, the needy, and the orphans. No matter how ‘sublime’ a service it will be used for, and no matter how much it is made to comply with the ‘law,’ we must ask, ‘Whose property is being given to whom?’ So, no one should take offense!.. And a question; are foundations being nationalized, or is our State being handed over to foundations piece by piece?!”

THOSE INVESTIGATING ARE A DROP IN THE OCEAN

After the December 17/25 corruption operations, it was announced that the domestic and international organizations of the YEE had been cleared of “FETÖ,” but the current situation is clear.

As I said, I have been “following it from afar”; first of all, let me state this: the corruption figures currently on the agenda are a drop in the ocean compared to what is being discussed. I hope the prosecutor's office and the inspectors will go all the way. Especially regarding tenders and expenditures abroad!..

To share some notes from the current investigation; arrest warrants were issued for 15 people. 11 were found, and 8 were arrested. It is estimated that the amount of corruption in this file, which has a confidentiality order, is 2 billion liras.

Moreover, what is currently the subject of the investigation is the procurement of goods and services under 200 thousand liras. Its feature is that expenditures under 200 thousand liras are carried out without a tender, directly with the authority of the president.

Another interesting point is that the focus is only on the former president, Şeref Ateş. Yet, even though it was the Ateş era, a third name, who for some reason never came to the agenda, served as Vice President alongside Minister Mahinur Göktaş's husband, Rahmi Göktaş, and MHP member Semih Yalçın's son, Kutalmış Yalçın. Indeed, it is alleged that the signatures of Göktaş and Yalçın are present on many contracts.

The assessment of those familiar with the matter is as follows:

“The damage is so great that it will not stop here. Either someone else will go, or the file will be closed.”

In the meantime, let us also note that it is alleged that some officials, to whom the inspectors from the Ministry of Finance and the General Directorate of Foundations—who conducted the audit before the corruption allegations reached the prosecutor's office—conveyed the dire picture, said, “Let us not be disgraced to the world, let us close this matter.”

ONE OF THOSE ARRESTED WAS STAYING IN A SHELTER

Let us come to the names accused of “laundering assets derived from crime” and “misconduct in office due to service” in the ongoing investigation file.

In addition to the Support Services Department Head M.Ç., Strategy Department Head S.Y., and Private Secretary M.D. from the era of former President Şeref Ateş, 5 more people were detained and arrested.

First, let us convey what these 5 people told during their interrogation by the judgeship.

The suspect named E.E. said, “I appear as the owner of the company named ……. However, I did not carry out the transactions in the company. A person named A.Y. carried them out. If a fake invoice was issued, I have no knowledge of it, and the signatures do not belong to me.”

E.T.E. said that although the company was in his name, Ş.Ö. carried out the transactions, and that he transferred the shares he held to a person whose name he did not remember, whom they also directed, due to his debts. His lawyer also stated that E.T.E. was a senior university student, that he only gave a general power of attorney to Ş.Ö., that E.T.E.'s mother, who is an accountant, realized that the company was established in his name and had the shares transferred, and that he had no signature on any documents belonging to the company.

F.K., who is stated to not be in full possession of his mental faculties, also gave the name of Ş.Ö. and noted that the company was in his name, but that Ş.Ö., who did all the transactions, exploited him, while his lawyer said, “The client is a pawn here.”

The suspect named M.K. said that he had nothing to do with the incident, that the company was established by taking a photocopy of his ID, and that he was not even aware that the company was established.

The most interesting one is the situation of H.K., who is stated to work as a tea server for 450 liras a day in tea houses. His lawyer emphasized that a person named H.Ö. took advantage of his client's difficult situation to obtain a power of attorney and have the company established, and that H.K. has been staying in shelters for 3 years because he has no means.

ONLY THAT NAME POINTED UPWARDS

As for the two department heads and the private secretary of the Şeref Ateş era; Strategy Department Head S.Y. explained that he had been working there for 12 years, that he had not even undergone any disciplinary investigation, and that he did not know that the invoices were fake because they came after being checked by the units.

While the former private secretary M.D. claimed that purchasing was not among his duties, that he did not communicate with any firms, that he did not conduct tenders, and that some of the signatures on the documents belonged to the person who acted on his behalf by proxy, his lawyer defended him by saying, “There is a signature hierarchy. The President gives an instruction to his private secretary. Requests coming from the units cannot reach the President without passing through the client's signature. Therefore, the signatures that have been placed are procedural signatures. The client's signature is not on the problematic signatures. Some of them are signatures placed by proxy. The name of the person acting by proxy is not even present.”

Support Services Department Head M.Ç., whose name comes to the fore in the corruption allegations, was the only person who pointed upwards. M.Ç. spoke as follows:

“I joined the institution in 2012. I worked in the purchasing and administrative affairs department for years. Later, I started working in the private office. I was asked to do the purchasing here by the instruction of the President. First, three offers would come to the consultancy. After creating a template in the purchasing file based on the offers, the officer would sign the document I signed and deliver it to the private office. What happened after that did not concern me. I did not receive any benefit from the institution. I did not know the firms. The presidency would send the firms from above.”

M.Ç.'s lawyer also said, “My client did not act with the intent to commit a crime, he fulfilled the duties given to him as instructions. No in-service training was provided. He does not fully know what the document he prepared relates to. He is only responsible for forwarding the offers they received as a purchasing commission to the President. He has no responsibility in the stages of making sales and receiving money.”

As a bitter coincidence, we will continue to follow what was eaten and how it was eaten at the Yunus Emre Institute, abbreviated as “YEE”.

Müyesser YILDIZ

January 13, 2025