Arif Pasha makes it five: He met with Özyurt, who is on trial for fraud
General Arif Çetin, Commander of the Gendarmerie, had previously been photographed with prominent figures from the criminal underworld such as Galip Öztürk, Selahattin Yılmaz, Hüseyin Eryılmaz, and Ferhat Aydoğan. Now, a photograph has emerged of Çetin with Serdar Özyurt, a former partner of Nuri Gökhan Bozkır—a suspect in the Hablemitoğlu murder—who is currently on trial for fraud.
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Serdar Özyurt, a former partner of Nuri Gökhan Bozkır—whose return to Turkey from Ukraine by the National Intelligence Organization (MİT) in connection with the murder of academic Necip Hablemitoğlu was announced by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan—met with General Arif Çetin. Özyurt shared photos of this visit on his social media account.
In addition to his partnership with Nuri Gökhan Bozkır, whose name has also been mentioned in connection with arms sales to ISIS, Özyurt is known as a businessman active in the defense industry and is currently on trial over allegations that he defrauded Uyghur Turk Halike Habibullah of 50,000 dollars and 490,000 liras in 2017.
According to the report by Can Bursalı from Gazete Duvar, Özyurt, who is being tried alongside former MİT member A.A., faces charges of "fraud by claiming to be a public official or an employee of a bank, insurance, or credit institution, or by claiming to have ties to such institutions," as well as "threats" and "insult." A.A. was dismissed from the MİT due to this case.
Özyurt, who also received a gift from General Çetin, shared the first photo on his social media account with the caption, "We listened to the glorious history of the Gendarmerie from my commander, Arif Çetin." In the second photo, the caption read, "Thanks to my esteemed elder, our Gendarmerie General Commander Arif Çetin, for his gift and hospitality" the statements included.
Other figures with whom Arif Çetin has been photographed include:
As part of the 'Iron Fist' operation conducted across 29 provinces against companies that defrauded the public using fake invoices through shell companies in the iron and steel sector, 10 people, including Hüseyin Eryılmaz, were arrested.
It was announced that 7.2 kilograms of cocaine were found in the apartment of Galip Öztürk, who was captured during an operation on his office in Batumi. The Georgian court sentenced Metro Turizm owner Galip Öztürk to 8 years in prison.
Ferhat Aydoğan, known as the spiritual nephew and 'press advisor' of Alaattin Çakıcı, shared photos of his visit to Gendarmerie General Commander Arif Çetin on his social media account, but later deleted the post. Aydoğan had shared photos taken at the Gendarmerie General Command Mobile Operations Center established in Kahramanmaraş due to the earthquake, with the message: 'We visited our Gendarmerie General Commander, Mr. Arif Çetin Pasha, one of the heroes of our homeland, in #Kahramanmaraş and thanked him for his devoted work in the disaster zones for 36 days.'