CHP Istanbul Provincial Presidency responds to money-counting allegations

In its statement regarding the money-counting footage that has become a trending topic on social media, the CHP Istanbul Provincial Presidency stated that the footage in question relates to the purchase of the party's provincial headquarters building and dates back to 2019.

The statement, which described the dissemination of the footage as "an effort to create a negative perception of the Republican People's Party and Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu," noted that the location where the footage was filmed was the law office of Gökhan Taşkapan, the owner of the building that now houses the CHP Istanbul Provincial Headquarters.

The statement read as follows:

“The footage in question relates to the purchase of the current CHP Istanbul Provincial Headquarters building, located within the borders of the Sarıyer district, in 2019. The document presented in the statement is proof of this. The date of the document is December 9, 2019. Although the security camera footage shows December 10, 2019, the actual date is December 9, 2019, as can be understood from the document.

The purpose of releasing this footage 4.5 years later is undoubtedly an effort to create a negative perception of the Republican People's Party and Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu. Furthermore, attempting to link an event from 4.5 years ago to the CHP Congress held on November 4, 2023, is contrary to the nature of things.

The location where the security camera footage was recorded is not the CHP Istanbul Provincial Headquarters building, but the law office of the building owner's lawyer, Gökhan Taşkapan. It is obvious that this footage was leaked with the knowledge of the lawyer in question. The footage constitutes an attack on personal rights.

Furthermore, there has been a violation of the protection of personal data. On this occasion, a criminal complaint will be filed against both the lawyer in question and those who disseminated this footage. Moreover, the owner of the building is also visible in the footage. The lawyer had previously attempted to blackmail some CHP Istanbul provincial officials by showing them this footage as if it were evidence of a crime, but received no response.

The individuals in the footage—former deputy provincial chair Özgür Nas, former provincial chair advisor Can Poyraz, and IMM CHP Council member Fatih Keleş—are the people who coordinated the building purchase process between the CHP Headquarters and the Istanbul Provincial Presidency.

Additionally, a donation campaign titled ‘Put a Brick Yourself’ was conducted in the summer of 2019 regarding the purchase of the Provincial Building. The promotional video for the donation campaign in question can be seen from open sources. The footage relates to the payment of the deposit to the building owner on December 9, 2019."

INVESTIGATION BY THE ISTANBUL CHIEF PUBLIC PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE

The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office has launched an ex officio investigation into the money-counting footage, which was allegedly filmed at the CHP Istanbul Provincial Presidency and shared on social media.

The Chief Public Prosecutor's Office initiated the ex officio investigation to uncover the material truth and determine whether there are any criminal elements regarding the footage, which was shared on some social media accounts with the note, "Footage of Fatih Keleş counting stacks of money at the CHP Istanbul Provincial Presidency has emerged."