Kılıçdaroğlu claim at Ekol TV: His advisors were involved
Retired General Arif Çetin was removed from his post on the day the money laundering investigation broke out. It is alleged that the management of Ekol Sports included politicians from the IYI Party and advisors to former CHP Chairman Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu.
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The Küçükçekmece Chief Public Prosecutor's Office has formalized the money laundering investigation it launched into EKOL TV executives. According to Ministry of Trade records, the changes in the channel's management are noteworthy. In particular, the removal of retired General Arif Çetin from the board of directors on January 2, 2025, coincided with the period immediately following the investigation.
EKOL TV was established on August 2, 2023, in an apartment in Bahçelievler with a capital of only 50 thousand TL. However, it moved to Sarıyer within 12 days and increased its capital to 30 million 50 thousand TL. The channel's operations were later moved to Ciner Studios in Küçükçekmece. With a board of directors decision taken on May 7, 2024, a merger with the Sipas Ajans Reklamcılık company was decided. This step symbolizes the major change in the channel's capital structure.
Sipas Ajans Reklamcılık was a company that owned the Sivas-based Vizyon 58 TV. There are allegations that Sipas is linked to Veysel Şahin. It is claimed that Şahin sold Sipas Ajans's television frequency to Ersan Şen and that the foundations of EKOL TV were laid after this company.
KILIÇDAROĞLU CLAIM
Following the company's rapid growth, prominent names took part in the management. Specifically, in the board of directors decision dated November 27, 2025, Cengiz Topel Yıldırım, who was the IYI Party's Ankara Metropolitan Municipality mayoral candidate in the March 31, 2024 local elections, was determined as the sole shareholder of the company. It was decided that Yıldırım would be the chairman of the board of directors until October 30, 2028. Yıldırım was Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu's chief advisor in 2016. According to the report by Canan Coşkun from Kısa Dalga, journalist Nuray Başaran Demir and Levent Demir, who are among Kılıçdaroğlu's former advisors, also served on the channel's board of directors.
The major changes in EKOL TV's capital structure and the controversies surrounding its executives have made the investigation more complex. On September 2, 2024, it was decided to open the company's Küçükçekmece branch, and Ilgın Sinanoğlu was appointed as the manager of this branch. Subsequently, on October 25, 2024, the company's capital was increased again to 34 million 950 thousand TL.
REMOVAL OF ARİF ÇETİN
Retired General Arif Çetin was removed from his post by a board of directors decision taken on December 25, 2025, shortly after joining Ekol TV's board of directors. Çetin's removal took place in a time frame parallel to the acceleration of the money laundering investigation.
ON THE JUDICIARY'S RADAR
EKOL TV's rising capital structure and the political connections in its management have entered the judiciary's radar. The company's growth, combined with money laundering allegations, is deepening the investigation. How the judicial process will develop and how the relations between the political, judicial, and military bureaucracy will take shape will become clearer in the coming period.