59 million embezzlement at Yunus Emre Institute: Uncontracted payments to son's company, fake invoices...
An investigation conducted by the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office has revealed how public funds were drained at the Yunus Emre Institute through irregular expenditures. While former President Şeref Ateş has been arrested, it was determined that 59 million TL in uncontracted payments were made to a company linked to his son, and millions were funneled into imaginary overseas programs.
12punto
The massive corruption chain at the Yunus Emre Institute has been brought to light by an indictment prepared by the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office. It was determined that between December 30, 2023, and June 3, 2024, exactly 59 million 144 thousand TL (approximately 1.8 million dollars) was paid to a company named Anka Kongre, which is linked to former President Şeref Ateş's son, Enes Ateş, for services such as airline tickets, accommodation, and car rentals without any contract. The company had only one employee during this period.
6 MILLION TL PAID FOR A FAKE SUMMIT
Another company called All Production issued 5 invoices worth 8 million 400 thousand TL to the Yunus Emre Institute between May 29 and June 3, 2024. A 6 million TL portion of these invoices belonged to an imaginary event called the "Geographical Indications Summit," which was claimed to have been held in Brussels but never actually took place. When the criminal complaint stated that this amount was fraudulent, the company returned the money.
FROM CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS TO TURKISH DELIGHT: 664 THOUSAND TL IN IRREGULAR INVOICES
The firm named Evrim CNC, founded by suspect Evrim Taylan Erol, issued invoices totaling 664 thousand 887 TL immediately after its establishment, claiming to have sent construction materials, carpets, flags, and double-roasted Turkish delight to cultural center buildings in Abuja, Al-Bab, Afrin, and Azaz between November 6 and December 16, 2021. The payments for all these invoices were made without any goods being delivered to the institution.
THEY RECEIVED 6.7 MILLION TL WITHOUT GOING ABROAD
A firm named Han Kültürel Eğitim Danışmanlık, owned by suspect Selçuk Kaymakoğlu, also issued 21 invoices totaling 8 million 672 thousand TL. 10 of these were arranged as overseas service procurements. However, the individuals who signed the invoices had never entered those countries. Nevertheless, 6 million 780 thousand TL was paid to the firm in exchange for 18 invoices.
ŞEREF ATEŞ ARRESTED
The Chief Public Prosecutor's Office arrested former President Şeref Ateş on charges of "causing loss to the foundation, misconduct in office, and possession of assets derived from crime." Ateş, who was detained at Esenboğa Airport, was sent to prison by the duty magistrate.
1.7 BILLION IN PUBLIC SUPPORT CONTINUED
While all these corruption allegations were ongoing, millions continued to be transferred from public resources to the Yunus Emre Foundation. In the first 6 months of the year, the Treasury provided resources to the foundation under the names of 670 million 421 thousand TL in "transfers to non-profit organizations" and 260 million TL in "capital transfers."
The Ministry of Culture and Tourism, on the other hand, provided 778 million 571 thousand TL in support to the foundation in just the first five months under the item of "Strengthening Turkish Language, Literature, and Culture through Access to Information Resources." Thus, the total public resource transferred to the Yunus Emre Foundation in the first half of the year reached 1 billion 708 million TL.
NO RESOURCES FOR CULTURAL PROJECTS
As the scandal grew, the low amounts the ministry allocated to cultural projects also drew attention. During the same period, the ministry spent 7.6 million TL on cultural publishing activities, 7.5 million TL on supporting cemevis, and only 4.1 million TL on supporting Turkish literature.