Influence peddling and forming an organization... The file on Soylu's brother-in-law was closed in a rush

Former Interior Minister and AKP MP Süleyman Soylu's relative has been the subject of a decision that has drawn attention.

According to the report by İsmail Arı from BirGün; Abdülkadir Işık, the brother-in-law of Süleyman Soylu, one of the country's most controversial interior ministers, was reported to the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office on September 5, 2022, along with Taner Doğangüzel, Deputy Head of the Anti-Smuggling and Organized Crime Department of the General Directorate of Security, and İbrahim Tüylüoğlu, a friend of Abdülkadir Işık.

In their criminal complaint, former MP Tevfik Diker and businessman Fehmi Öztürk requested that Soylu's brother-in-law Işık, Deputy Police Department Head Doğangüzel, and Tüylüoğlu be prosecuted, stating that they "formed a criminal organization, failed to report the committed crime to the authorized authorities, destroyed evidence of the crime, and committed the crime of influence peddling."

NO CONCRETE EVIDENCE

Just 24 days later, on September 29, 2022, the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office closed the file by issuing a decision of non-prosecution on the grounds that "no concrete evidence was presented and the allegations were abstract and general in nature." It was also decided not to process the complaint against Taner Doğangüzel, Deputy Head of the Anti-Smuggling and Organized Crime Department of the General Directorate of Security. Former MP Tevfik Diker and businessman Fehmi Öztürk appealed the decision to the Ankara Criminal Court of Peace, stating that "the public prosecutor did not fulfill the duty imposed on him by law." Furthermore, they requested that a lawsuit be filed, stating that the prosecutor's office did not take their statements, did not request evidence, and did not take the statements of the suspects. It is alleged that no decision has yet been made regarding the appeal filed on October 14, 2022.

'THEY SAID IT WOULD BE SOLVED WITH MONEY'

Businessman Fehmi Öztürk, who filed the criminal complaint and launched a legal battle claiming that his assets worth 50 million dollars were seized, had shared important information in a previous criminal complaint. Öztürk described the meeting he had with Soylu's brother-in-law Işık and Deputy Police Department Head Doğangüzel as follows: "On October 15, 2020, Süleyman Soylu's brother-in-law Abdulkadir Işık wanted to meet with me. We met the next day in Emirgan. With him was Taner Doğangüzel, who said he was the Deputy Head of the Ankara Anti-Smuggling and Organized Crime (KOM) Department, and a person named İbrahim Tüylüoğlu. They told me, 'Your file is at the Financial Crimes Branch, 1 million 500 thousand TL was given to the police. Your file will be closed and the prosecutor is also aware of it.' They said my issue could be solved but that 10 percent of the money would go. Then I conveyed this situation to Süleyman Soylu by sending a message. At the same time, I also conveyed it to the Minister of Justice and his deputies."