Prosecutor's referral document in terror investigation into Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality revealed

The investigation launched by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office into 7 people, including IMM Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, IMM Deputy Secretary General Mahir Polat, and Şişli Mayor Resul Emrah Şahan, is ongoing.

The prosecutor's referral document regarding IMM Mayor İmamoğlu, Şişli Mayor Resul Emrah Şahan, IMM Deputy Secretary General Mahir Polat, and Reform Institute Director Mehmet Ali Çalışkan, whose statements were taken as part of the terror investigation, has been obtained.

The document includes certain allegations regarding the "City Consensus."

The referral document, which alleges that "when the municipal council members and appointed deputy mayors in Istanbul, determined as a result of the agreement made with the terrorist organization through the 'City Consensus', are examined, it is seen that they have links to the terrorist organization and that all of them registered as members of the CHP only a few days before the local elections on March 31, 2024," states the following:

"In the study to judicially document the links of these individuals to the terrorist organization, it was determined that a total of 10 people, including the deputy mayors of Ataşehir and Kartal and 8 IMM Council members, were mentioned in the HDK data, which is described in detail in terms of their legal status, and that they were detained and arrested within the scope of our investigations upon the determination that they were HDK members. Apart from these individuals, 8 municipal council members were arrested within the scope of our investigations due to their other links to the terrorist organization outside of the HDK. To date, 8 council members who are members of the terrorist organization have been arrested as described, and investigation procedures regarding the remaining suspects are continuing."

The document includes allegations regarding the suspects, including the deputy mayors of Kartal and Ataşehir, who were arrested in the operation organized on the allegation that members of the PKK/KCK terrorist organization were placed in municipalities under the management of the organization.

Emphasizing that the situation of the defendant Elif Gül, a Sancaktepe Municipal Council Member who was arrested in the operation organized on the allegation that members of the terrorist organization were placed in municipalities under the management of the PKK/KCK, is noteworthy in terms of understanding the gravity of the issue, the document states that there are findings that Gül handed over her daughter, who was operating in the rural area of the terrorist organization, to the organization and that she took photos with other organization members in the Qandil region.

The document recalls that, in addition to the suspects mentioned in the example, Ahmet Özer, who was removed from his post as Esenyurt Mayor within the scope of the "City Consensus" activity, was arrested on the allegation of "being a member of the PKK/KCK" and a public lawsuit was filed against him, and that Esenyurt Deputy Mayor Osman Yalçın is a fugitive for the same crime.

The document states: "The individuals mentioned as examples were placed in various district municipalities in the province in line with the instruction to infiltrate metropolitan municipalities with members of the terrorist organization, which is known to the public as the 'City Consensus' and which took shape in the statement made by KCK Executive Council Member Duran Kalkan before the 2024 local elections."

The document, which includes findings that most of them were also enabled to become Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Council Members, alleges that the suspects targeted the support of the financial structure of the terrorist organization and the increase of its field power within a joint and organized plan.

The document notes that, based on the evidence presented within the scope of the investigation, the suspects are members of the Peoples' Democratic Congress (HDK), that the HDK is a front structure with a legal appearance and an assembly alternative to the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (TBMM), and that it is hierarchically located as the umbrella structure of the political field organization under the KCK/TDÖ fragment organization, which is the so-called Turkey Executive of the PKK/KCK terrorist organization.

"HDK MEMBERS INFILTRATED CRITICAL POINTS IN METROPOLITAN MUNICIPALITIES"

The document, which claims that the HDK and its components were given a vital role in the "City Consensus" strategy implemented to achieve the goals of "democratic autonomy" in the instructions and suggestions put forward by KCK Executive Council members, alleges: "In this context, in coordination with the HDK's activities in the social field, HDK members were infiltrated into critical points in metropolitan municipalities through the 'City Consensus' model in the political field as well; indeed, as partially reflected in the statements of the suspects, the political attitudes and behaviors of the suspects were shaped in this direction and according to the instructions of high-level organization executives."

The document includes the following statements:

"In this context, it is understood that the suspects operated within the HDK, which is an extension of the PKK/KCK terrorist organization, and were brought into critical positions in the district municipalities of our province with the instructions of the KCK co-chairs and high-level organization members who are executive council members, in order to implement the 'democratic autonomy' plan, and were thus enabled to serve as Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Council Members. Our investigations will be deepened and continued to expose all other individuals whose participation in the 'City Consensus' activity, which aims to increase the effectiveness of the terrorist organization in metropolitan cities, is determined."

"AIMED TO INCREASE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE TERRORIST ORGANIZATION"

The document states that fugitive suspect Azad Barış, one of those responsible for the political field organization of the PKK/KCK terrorist organization, is the general director of the Spectrum House Thought and Research Center, and alleges that he participated in the "City Consensus" organizational activity, which is managed by the organization itself and aims to increase the effectiveness of the terrorist organization by infiltrating members of the terrorist organization into metropolitan city municipalities, primarily Istanbul.

The document, which reports that Ekrem İmamoğlu, Ahmet Özer, Mahir Polat, Resul Emrah Şahan, and Murat Ongun, who were determined to be in contact with Azad Barış, committed the crime of "aiding an armed terrorist organization" by participating in the "City Consensus" organizational activity, states that Barış had communication with 312 different people who have PKK/KCK records.

CALL TO "VOTE FOR İMAMOĞLU"

The document reports that a document seized during the search of Barış's workplace contained expressions such as: "Interview given by our Co-General Vice President Azad Barış to the Mesopotamia Agency; HDP Co-General Vice President Azad Barış, stating that they destroyed the 'invincible myth' of the government on March 31, called on his voters to vote for İmamoğlu by saying 'If we win Istanbul, we will win Turkey'."

Referring to the materials seized from the Spectrum House Thought and Research Center, the document includes photos of a map evaluated as a so-called Kurdistan map that also includes the lands of the Republic of Turkey, and documents titled "Possible Kurdistan, Middle East Policies of AKP and MHP After 2021" and "Azad Barış: We call on our voters to vote for İmamoğlu, the candidate of democracy."

While the document provides information that Barış also had money transfers with many organization members, it is stated that suspects İmamoğlu, Şahan, Çalışkan, and Polat gave common base signals with Barış in the four-month period before the March 31, 2024 elections.

The document states that an inappropriate increase was detected in the 2024 financial profile of suspect Mehmet Ali Çalışkan, one of the founders of the IMM affiliate Reform Foundation, and reminds that the suspect used his right to remain silent on the question regarding these increases, despite answering other questions during his police statement.

CONTACTS OF THOSE DETAINED WITH THOSE WHO HAVE TERROR RECORDS

The document alleges that İmamoğlu had communication with 138 people with judicial records for terror crimes between January 1, 2018, and February 26, 2025, Şahan with 90 between January 1, 2018, and March 4, 2025, Polat with 116, and Çalışkan with 38 in the same date range.

The document uses the following expressions:

"Considering the fact that suspect Ekrem İmamoğlu, together with other suspects, determined the municipal council member lists with his approval in the local elections and that they could not be determined without his knowledge, it is understood that they committed the crime of aiding the PKK/KCK terrorist organization they are accused of by knowingly participating in the 'City Consensus' activity, which aims to increase its effectiveness in metropolitan areas as stated by the management of the terrorist organization in return for support for his election as mayor, by ensuring that some members of the terrorist organization take office in effective positions in municipalities, and by ensuring that other members of the terrorist organization or the relatives of killed organization members, referred to as so-called 'value families', take part in public service, thereby participating in actions that facilitate the organization's movements and aim to sustain its existence, as also stated in Supreme Court decisions."

Şahan did not give his phone password, Çalışkan surrendered without a phone

The document evaluates that suspect Şahan did not give the passwords of the phone and digital materials he used to law enforcement officers, and that suspect Çalışkan, one of the founders of the Reform Foundation, surrendered to law enforcement officers after the simultaneous apprehension and detention date without a mobile phone with him, and that they aimed to prevent the exposure of their relationships and contacts in this way.

The document, which states that Ekrem İmamoğlu made a statement that he recommended the election of Esenyurt Mayor Ahmet Özer, against whom a public lawsuit was filed due to membership in a terrorist organization, requested that the suspects be decided to be arrested for the crime of "aiding an armed terrorist organization", taking into account the nature and quality of the crime they are accused of, the current state of evidence, and the upper limit of the penalty written in the law for the crime.

The prosecutor's referral document was sent to the Istanbul Duty Criminal Court of Peace.

News Source: AA