Journalist and 12punto columnist Müyesser Yıldız reports from the Bora Kaplan trial: 'Soylu's team is getting what they deserve from God'

The third session of the trial, held at the Ankara 77th Criminal Court of First Instance with 38 defendants, 12 of whom are in custody, began today with the defense of Muammer Çetinkaya, who is accused of laundering Bora Kaplan's money. Explaining that he worked as a driver and bodyguard for the firm of a famous businessman, Cemal Kuru, and that he was also a trustee for one of his companies, which he later transferred to Bora Kaplan, he said the following:

“Would a person who launders money be unable to pay their loans, or have their credit cards sent to enforcement? If I am Bora Kaplan's treasurer, why am I living in such misery? I am not in a position to hire a lawyer. Why doesn't Bora Kaplan hire a lawyer for me? I am not in a position to express myself before you. How am I a treasurer?”

During cross-examination, the Judge asked whether there was any payment between Bora Kaplan and Cemal Kuru during the transfer of this company. Çetinkaya said, “I don't know that. Cemal Kuru was a family friend.”

Çetinkaya also answered the Judge's questions regarding his joint stays at certain hotels with Bora Kaplan and some other defendants, based on records in the indictment, and his detention along with Bora Kaplan in 2015-2016, as follows:

“We stayed together because Cemal Kuru loved to travel. In 2015, I was a valet at a venue called Makyaj. They took us during the operation. After that, I left that venue. I remember being detained once.”

Upon these answers, Bora Kaplan said, “Most of those records are wrong. A bunch of mistakes were made in the previous file. Does he remember us being processed together? Could these be wrong?” and when he asked Çetinkaya to think again, the following dialogue took place:

Judge: That is not the question you asked. He has made a statement, there is no need for him to make a statement again.

Bora Kaplan: Do you have a hotel record with me or not?

Muammer Çetinkaya: No.

Judge: When I asked a moment ago, you said you were included in the programs organized by Cemal Kuru, is that correct?

Çetinkaya: Correct.

Judge: Why did you say 'No' when Bora Kaplan asked?

Çetinkaya: I have experienced so much that I might not remember.

Judge: After saying 'It could be,' why did you say 'No'? I have to resolve this contradiction. Did you stay together or not?

Çetinkaya: I don't remember. If you tell me the city and the place clearly, I can give a clear answer.

Kaplan: Thank you for trying to resolve the contradiction. You are acting fairly... A moment ago, Muammer Çetinkaya said that Cemal Kuru made reservations in his own name.

Judge: Did you say that?

Çetinkaya: Yes.

Kaplan: Since Cemal Kuru is married, he may have made hotel reservations in the names of his employees rather than his own name.

This statement by Bora Kaplan made many defendants and spectators, especially his wife Nazlı Kaplan, smile.

“What Help? Did He Say 'Beat Them Up'?”

One of the defendants, Nihal Akbaba, explained that she was a graduate of Bilkent University Tourism Management, came from a wealthy family, married into a wealthy family, that the 15 kilos of gold worn at her wedding made the news, and that she worked in the companies of her husband, who was a tax record-holder for many years, and said, “I had a partnership with Bora Kaplan for a short period. After I separated from my husband, I only operated two venues with one of the defendants, Tansel Aktan.”

When Bora Kaplan's lawyer, İbrahim Öner, asked, “Did you receive help from Bora Kaplan while buying the second workplace? Is there a secret partnership?” Nihal Akbaba replied, “There is no such thing as a secret partnership. I asked for help because he is a family friend.” Upon this, Bora Kaplan asked, “What did she mean when she said, 'I received help'? Did she ask for an opinion, did she want me to be a guarantor; or did she want me to beat someone up?” Nihal Akbaba said, “Since I am not married, I asked him, like an elder of the family, about the value and whether I could afford it.”

They Didn't Even Let Me Cover My Head

Bora Kaplan's sister, Safiye Çalış, alleged that the police officers who carried out the operation did not even allow her to cover her head before opening the door, that they pointed guns at her and her children, and that they told her children, the oldest of whom is 15, “Tell us what you know, or your mother will never return.”

Safiye Çalış continued as follows:

“I don't believe there is such an organization or money laundering. I have had no commercial relationship with Bora Kaplan other than being his sister. A trustee was appointed to my husband's workplace. A lien was placed on two houses we bought with bank loans. My husband is in custody. Are we going to eat the walls with 5 children? It is said that I bought the houses I bought with bank loans, for which the installments have not finished, under my brother's instructions. I don't know how money laundering is done this way. Is it done with bank loans? The house isn't even mine – it belongs to the bank because the debt hasn't been paid off.”

They Wanted Me to Testify Against Bora Kaplan

One of the defendants, Salih Durbaba, said that he did not know any of the defendants other than Bora Kaplan, that he had not received or given a penny to them, and that he had only met with Bora Kaplan twice for a social responsibility project. Durbaba also claimed that the police forced him to testify against Bora Kaplan. Bora Kaplan asked who these police officers were. Durbaba said, “I don't know them, I don't know.”

When Salih Durbaba complained that they were not allowed to bring water into the courtroom and said, “My tongue and palate are dry,” the Judge gave him some of his own water.

Samira Ayağeva Aktan, the wife of detained defendant Tansel Aktan, who made her defense in the afternoon session, stated that she is Azerbaijani and that she appeared as the owner of her husband's companies on paper, and said, “I have no connection with the alleged organization. I don't know what my husband does in his commercial affairs.” Crying while describing the two operations the police carried out on her home, Samira Ayağeva Aktan answered the question of Lawyer İbrahim Kama, “The police search report states that there are wristwatches worth 1 million liras in your home. Are these original or imitation?” as follows:

“My husband is obsessed with watches and prayer beads. I am sure they are all imitations. If they were original, I would have sold them instead of my gold when my house was under foreclosure.”

The Older Brother of the Secret Witness

Selçuk Sertçelik, the older brother of the fugitive secret witness Serdar Sertçelik, stated that he was a teacher and later started working with his brother, and that because his brother was in debt, all transactions and expenses were made from his own account, and said the following:

“In 2022, when my brother stated that Elmacı Markets had gone bankrupt, that he was receiving threats, and that he could no longer stay in Ankara, we went to Istanbul together and started staying at his wife's house. My family order was disrupted. Who would ruin their own life to launder someone else's money? Who would ruin their life for someone else with these debts? I didn't take money from anyone, I didn't launder anyone's money. Bora Kaplan's relatives say they are here because of him; I think I am in this file because I am Serdar Sertçelik's brother.”

Stating that Serdar Sertçelik was a friend of Bora Kaplan and Tansel Aktan and that Bora Kaplan had no partnership in Elmacı Markets, Selçuk Sertçelik, upon the Judge's question regarding his joint flights with some defendants, said, “Most of them were gambling in Cyprus. My brother also went very often.”

The lawyers asked whether he knew how Serdar Sertçelik's statement was taken as a secret witness and how he fled; however, Selçuk Sertçelik stated that he would not answer these questions.

Selçuk Sertçelik's lawyer, Umut Güler, also noted that his client's statement was taken at the Anti-Smuggling and Organized Crime Department (KOM), that he was being tried according to the summary of proceedings prepared by KOM, and that in the meantime, his client was called to the Anti-Terrorism Department (TEM) and his statement was taken regarding those KOM police officers who carried out this operation and are now being tried.

The Prosecutor's Opinion

After the defenses of all defendants except the 6 fugitive defendants were completed, the Judge asked the Prosecutor for his opinion. The Prosecutor requested that the detention of the detained defendants continue, and that the judicial control measures of the non-detained defendants and the liens on their companies and assets remain in place.

The hearing continued with the statements of the defendants and their lawyers against the opinion.

Muhammet Hardalaç, the lawyer for Barış Kurt, former AKP Ankara Provincial Vice President and Çankaya Municipal Council Member, reacted to the opinion as follows:

“Can there be such an opinion? It can. He did it. It is alleged that the organization was established in 2016. Well, why were the assets from before 2016 seized? Are we taking the organization back in time? For three days, we have been talking about bars, entertainment venues, eating, and drinking here. All three of Barış Kurt's companies are construction companies. They say death is a right, inheritance is lawful. No, now even inheritance is not lawful. The inheritance was also seized. Take his father too, then. When Barış Kurt was elected as a municipal council member in 2014, he submitted a declaration of assets. Request this from Çankaya Municipality; let's see if there has been a significant increase in his assets.”

Soylu's Team is Getting What They Deserve from God

Bora Kaplan also claimed that this persecution was carried out because he did not give the statement the police wanted, and summarized as follows:

“For example, may God punish Hasan (Çalış), his only crime is that he took my brother. I don't know what else they will do to us, may God make our end good. We are tearing our clothes apart at the 32nd High Criminal Court, but there is a wall in front of us, we hit it and bounce back. They put us there to slaughter us. They are going to hit us with an axe. FETÖ, PKK, and Israel did not do this much persecution to the Palestinians. I am a patriot, if I hadn't gone to Süleyman Soylu at TRT on July 15, no one would know me, I would have continued my life. But Süleyman Soylu's team came, they were the first to ruin me. May they get what they deserve from God, and they are already getting it. For God's sake, stop this persecution. Forget about me, let these people go. I am going to be imprisoned for the other case anyway.”

One of the defendants, Cemil Kumaşçıoğlu, addressing the Judge, said, “If you took 20 thousand liras out of your pocket and said, 'Launder this,' I wouldn't know how to do it,” and explained that he was first taken in the organization case, released when nothing was found, then arrested in this file with the statements of two secret witnesses, and has been lying in a cell for 8 months, and asked for this persecution to be ended.

The lawyers for Bora Kaplan and Cemil Kumaşçıoğlu harshly criticized the MASAK report in addition to the indictment, and requested that a new MASAK report be obtained and that the organization case and the case in which the police are being tried be treated as a pending issue.

Addressing the Guard as “Mr. President”

When the Judge gave a 10-minute break in the hearing, the defendants connecting via SEGBİS from Dinar Prison stated that they were not allowed to go to the toilet during the previous break and asked the Judge to warn the guards.

After the Judge asked them to call the guards, it was heard that the defendant addressed them as “Mr. President.” Upon this, the Judge asked, “Since when do you address the guard as 'Mr. President'?” The defendant replied, “They have been making us say 'Mr. President' since we entered the prison.”

After the statements of the three defendants and their lawyers were also made, the session was ended at 20:50 to continue tomorrow.